Are You There, Primus? It's Me, Starscream
by Breech Loader
Summary: Starscream locates an old friend whose abilities would be perfect to the Decepticon cause, but they didn't part on good terms. If he can't get her to co-operate then he's the one in trouble. And Megatron is sick of his insubordination and incompetance, so he'll be in trouble good and hard. Oh, life is just so complicated right now... Megatron/Starscream, Starscream/OC
1. Prologue

Are You There, Primus? It's Me, Starscream

Co-Written By Breech Loader and Draven Of Shadow

* * *

NOTE: This is a prologue chapter. This story will have sex, rape, and OC-lovin'. It will have gratuitous and sometimes derogatory use of the word 'cripple'.

* * *

Prologue

"Broken... Weak... Out of fashion..." Megatron tossed a weapon aside with each word, glaring, "Why, these old weapons are almost as pathetic as you, Starscream!" he cast a glance at his second-in-command, "I have the most soldiers, I have torture technicians, I have the best communications officer in the universe..." somehow Soundwave was looking smug even without a face, "And yet we are still attempting to kill Autobots with guns that are up to half-a-million years old!"

Aboard the Nemesis, Starscream, Soundwave and Knock Out had been dragged into the tactical chambers to listen to Megatron ranting about the age of their weapons. For all his genius, the leader of the Decepticons could be almost child-like in his tantrums.

"We are trapped with their level of technology!" he sneered "That's not good enough! We are still killing wretched little Autobots one at a time! That's not good enough! So, tell me, my advisors, what is good enough?"

Knock Out raised a hand awkwardly, "Weapons that kill lots of Autobots at a time?" the anobby sports car tried.

"You're a _ge__nius_, Knock Out," Megatron continued to sneer, "Who else would have thought of saying that but you? The only minor detail being that since the Forge of Solus Prime was lost, we can't make those any longer! So," he looked around at the officers, "_What are y__ou planning to do about it?!"_

There was an uncomfortable silence, before Megatron continued more evenly, "Any idiot can manufacture a blaster. Any fool can fire it. Far too many of the old tools of genocide have been lost. Too many of them were liabilities; as dangerous to their user as to their target. I do not want _liabilities_ in my arsenal," he glared at Starscream meaningfully, "I want reliable tools of mass destruction."

Starscream shuddered for a moment before speaking, his voice uncertain until he found the words he was looking for. "Lord Megatron, you have to understand, without the Forge, the one person who could make such weapons would a Specialised Weapons Designer – mechs both infamous and notorious for their creativity. YOU drove most of them to the Autobots yourself when you began to use such weapons on the surface of our home planet," he tried to explain, starting off unsure, but by the end, he was as smug as ever.

"Ha!" Megatron tried to dismiss the words. When he realised he couldn't, he did as was expected; he changed the subject, "Those who went to the side of the Autobots were most certainly too weak to create the tools I want. I don't need those idiots with their limitations clouded by ridiculous, self-defeating, hypocritical morals! You too seem to believe there could exist weapons that will not inevitably cause collateral damage, Starscream," he loomed over the slim, stilettoed Seeker.

The cowardly jet just stumbled back, shrinking in on himself a little, "N-not at all, merely that aiming them at your own people is NOT how you secure their loyalty, let alone what they're supposed to be fighting for." Even as the words left Starscream's mouth, he realized a change of tactics, at the very least, a change in words, might be a good idea in terms of his own survival.

Megatron growled, "In war, sacrifices must be made. I would have thought that you of all people understood that, Commander," he turned away with a sweeping gesture, "How would _you_ secure their loyalty? More importantly, where would you find one that would be fool enough to listen to you?"

Starscream smirked a bit, resisting the urge to say 'anywhere they won't follow you' and instead gripped his wrists behind his back. "I just so happen to be acquainted with a rather notorious scientist in the field of weaponry." he spoke conceitedly, deliberately neglecting to mention she'd just as soon see their whole race wiped out than work for either side.

"Well, it's nice to know you have a life outside of this war," Megatron returned sarcastically. Knock Out and Soundwave were looking at Starscream with interest, "Why have you not told me of this before? You know the consequences for hiding things from me... Perhaps you were planning on acquiring a few secret upgrades for yourself?"

Starscream held his hands up defensively as he spoke, "N-no Lord Megatron! This was BEFORE the war! We dated briefly at one point, yes, but things did not end... well..." he all but pleaded, his wings scraping the wall with a metallic screech. What had he just done?!

It was no good; after the last escapade, Megatron never trusted Starscream. Even when he wasn't actively motivated towards a full-scale mutiny, the Seeker still might as well be living with the words 'I WILL BE PRIME' branded across his chassis, "But you know where they can located?" he asked sharply. He didn't care about Starscream's social life, as long as he could follow out orders and complete missions.

Starscream flinched a little, nodding hard and fast "YES LORD MEGATRON!" he shouted before he managed to calm himself down, straightening back up and brushing some imaginary dirt from his long legs. "I mean, of course Lord Megatron," he repeated, much calmer this time, "At least I know the last place she was allegedly sighted…"

Megatron gave this consideration, but not much. He turned and glared, "The first rule of war is to _never_ allow your enemy to keep the spoils. I refuse to allow any more scientists to fall into the grubby hands of the Autobots. So you will give Soundwave the coordinates to… her… location. And you will find her, and bring her here, functioning. Willing or unwilling. If she is as good as you say she is, she lives," all this was moot; Starscream hadn't said how good she was, but it wasn't important, "If not, she is dead weight. I will not tolerate dead weight in my army... Oh, and Starscream?" he loomed over the Seeker, "If you somehow get any clever ideas into your devious little head regarding treachery while you are away..." he tapped Starscream on the head with a talon, _"__Don't."_

The deceitful Decepticon's optics widened till it looked like his irises might break, nodding once more as he slowly-side stepped towards the door. "U-understood Lord Megatron, you will have her in your hands as fast as is physically possible!" His whiny voice trembled with the nervousness that he felt, to the point of cracking as he ran towards the exit to take flight for the space bridge. As Starscream exited the ship, his voice could be heard over the radio for Soundwave, telling him the rough coordinates to the tiny planet he'd last heard she was squatting on.

Megatron watched the space-bridge being prepped, "One last thing, Starscream," he added, just before the Seeker stepped though, "Don't take me for a patient fool. If you can't bring the scientist back within 24 Earth hours… _don't bother coming back at all."_

* * *

NOTE: I know this is a short chapter but that's because it's the prologue. From now on, the chapters will be much longer. Don't get too antsy about the OC, okay? Well, at least wait until you've met her…

This is mine and Draven's first plot-based story together, so be honest, okay?


	2. HD-10180

Are You There, Primus? It's Me, Starscream

Co-Written By Breech Loader and Draven Of Shadow

* * *

NOTE: Yeah, I read Transformers Exodus. AND Exile. If Transformers didn't go around having gaps between seasons I wouldn't need to.

HD-10180 is a real star. There are so many that most are known by numbers. (z) is not a real planet. And chapters are gonna get a bit longer now.

* * *

Chapter One: HD-10180

When Starscream stepped through the Space-Bridge onto HD-10180(z), it was to arrive on a tiny, searing planet, a rock-strewn lump of gravel dangerously close to its parent star, less than 1/200 the size of Earth. The Space-Bridge remained open, and it would do so for 24 hours. Megatron's deadline was an effective threat; everybody knew that Starscream's expected survival time without the Decepticons would be less than that of a Virtual Boy multiplied by a Mayfly. If not killed out of revenge by Autobots, then Neutrals would be just as likely to end his life for the lives he had taken. Frag, he wouldn't put it past Megatron to put a price on his head so that he'd be hunted down by his old comrades.

Once again he had put his foot straight in his mouth. This was only the _last_ place his target had been sighted for millennia; that didn't mean she was still here or even that he'd be able to find her in time. And as for bringing her back, _Soundwave_ probably had a better chance of persuading her to come willingly than he did.

However, any doubt that she might not be here was lessened rapidly when he took stock of the drone mechs building something only a short distance away. Half of the surrounding area was littered with what looked like experiments, and the other half seemed to compromise of craters. Sometimes both.

Further in the distance, a missile was fired, going straight up and then exploding like a brilliant firework. Starscream couldn't imagine what it was for, but he transformed into Jet mode, and headed towards the area it had been launched from.

Drones completely ignored him as he flew over, and the landscape looked like a planet converted into a laboratory converted into a city. And as the number of constructions increased, there might as well have been flashing neon signs saying 'Main Laboratory This Way'. Still, it had been almost four-million years. Instead of spending her time blowing up things the way the Autobots and Decepticons had, it looked like his target had indulged herself entirely in two of her favourite activities - building machines that built machines, and building machines that blew things up.

At the very least, finding her wouldn't be terribly hard; it didn't even take him an hour to arrive at the main lab, transforming as he marvelled at the high temperature. Clearly Hotwire had managed to install solar shielding at some point, as even this close to the sun, in terms of mere temperature, this planet could never have supported even Cybertronian tech, and certainly not something as delicate as humans, though the long solar scorched atmosphere was a different story; drones didn't have a set atmosphere for optimum performance other than non-corrosive. Finally, Starscream finished putting off the inevitable and made his way inside, trying to find the main lab and readying a rocket, just in case.

There was almost zero security. That probably meant she wasn't expecting anybody to find her. Starscream had to wonder what powered all of this. Probably the fuel source for something that could blow up whole suns, because if there had been any Energon on this planet, it wouldn't be much use for hiding on. There were more drones, but all they seemed to do was build things, following pre-set orders.

Following the obvious route, he found a door. No locks again. Who needed locks on a planet where the only sentient being was yourself? Hotwire really didn't think anybody knew where she was... That, or she didn't care.

He opened the door. The room behind was huge and filled with half-built machines, none of which Starscream knew the purpose for. Many of them had little fix-it notes attached saying 'DO NOT TOUCH' and DO NOT TOUCH _EVER'_, but didn't explain their purpose.

Starscream was smart enough to not mess with those, at least not in such a confined quarter. With his luck, one of them would release some cloud of microscopic Scraplets or some such thing. He made his way along, edging around everything for the moment, merely wishing to focus on his mission and get back on board the Nemesis as soon as possible, preferably still intact and with all his important parts functioning.

As he navigated, he saw it. Well, her. Standing with her back to him, unmistakable rotors hanging down her back, typing. Hotwire's armour-plating was mostly black, but there was a _lot_ of custom white highlighting. A long plait of cables with a USB tag on the end hung from her head, twitching of its own volition, more like a tail than hair. It was a typical trait of a Triple Changer to have both automobile and aviation parts even before they picked their alt-modes, and Hotwire had four rotors on her back that clattered gently with almost every movement, and four wheels. Occasionally she wrote something on a nearby touch-screen.

She was a fair bit shorter than him, but also bulkier and more rounded, with her heavy plating arranged mostly on her shoulders, forearms and lower legs. Her helmet armour looked very slightly like a cross between a helicoptor pilot and a baseball batter. Finally, her visor was a _very_ dark blue and covered half of her face.

After several seconds, she tapped a cane against the metal leg of the table. The sound rang out through the room, and she laughed nastily, "Well, well, well, if it isn't my old frag-buddy Starscream," she drawled, without looking up at him, "Whatever you're here to do, I suggest you start it by giving me a reason not to kill you."

He frowned a bit, but bit back his anger, deciding to at least _try_ the civil route before he simply lowered himself to kidnapping her, "Hotwire... It's been so long, don't you think it's time we put the past behind us and start fresh?" As he asked that, he moved up behind her, one hand coming to rest on her shoulder as he made sure his voice was dripping with honey.

She pulled her shoulder away, "I don't live in the past, Starscream," her voice was a low drawl, like an engine idling, "I am a _scientist_ and I work towards the future. But as I recall, the last time we met you pushed me off a roof. I was mangled by a garbage compactor, while you _watched_. That's a teensy bit tough to just... put aside." She pushed a sequence of buttons. There was an explosion somewhere overhead - loud enough to shake the entire complex - and she cursed at what seemed to be an undesirable result.

"Yes, well, apples and oranges." It didn't occur to him straight away that she wouldn't know the phrase, let alone that he wasn't even using it in the right context to begin with. "Our Lord and Master, Megatron, wishes to see you. Perhaps you could even earn a position as third in power?" He said, his sugar-coated words sounding more like he was talking about sex than politics. _CLEARLY_ this was a Cybertronian with his priorities in order.

"Unlike some people, I don't feel the need for political power. Why do you think I didn't take sides in the war?" There was a beeping from a stop-watch, and she walked to a closed box, occasionally tapping against other experiments. There was a banging from inside the box, and she counted down under her breath before banging back. She then turned towards a glowing circle and held an analyser up to it, "I'm busier than you've ever been, doing things more important than you've ever done." Arrogance dripped from her voice-box.

He scowled at that and stood up straight knocking over one of her stacked computer's in the process. "Busy? Busy doing what? Being a blind fool, shambling around some run down, burnt out rock making second-rate sparkling's play things and pretending to be important? _That_ kind of busy?" His voice was nearly a screech as he stomped towards her. "We Decepticons have conquered entire planets, made entire races extinct! What do _you_ have to show for all your self-entitled importance?" he shot right in her face, one hand back, claws extended, as ready to rip her apart as he once had his own clone.

"How about ever narrowing the boundaries between imagination and reality?" she snapped, "How about investigating the practical applications of black holes? How about powering this entire planet with a wormhole and a ball-bearing? Frag, half of the experiments here, I have going 27/9 just so the entire planet doesn't overload! And..." she hit Starscream over the head with her cane, "Don't call me a blind fool! Or at least... don't call me a fool..."

She reached up to her dark blue visor and snapped it up. Under it, half her face was badly scarred and melted. But what really drew the attention was the complete blackness of her optics. On a planet where most of your body was technological and replaceable, Starscream hadn't met many blind mechs. But now he'd met one more.

Starscream smirked as Hotwire felt his hand on her face, long fingers tracing her cheek as he chuckled a bit, actually pressing his thumb against one of the burned-out optics. "Well look at that, one of the finest minds in the galaxy, reduced to a _cripple_." He laughed at that, having to resist the urge to crush her optic just for the power rush, as if it would make a difference. His voice grew more certain, "You _will_ be coming with me Hotwire, even if I have to bring down this entire lab and dig your crumpled frame out of the rubble." His voice was quiet and threatening, more than ready to carry through on his words.

Hotwire glared, "This is my planet, Starscream," she growled, "Everything here is tailored to make life easier for me. And this _cripple_ doesn't need optics to kick your finely polished skidplate," the cane transformed into a longsword, "And as for tearing this entire lab down? You _really_ don't want to see this entire solar system crushed to the size of a pinhead..."

He leaned in till his face was right in front of hers, arming all of his missiles so that the slightest impact would set them off. "Try me. If I go back empty handed, well, I'd be better off in a singularity, I'll leave it at that." He said, scowling as he brought one into firing position on each arm, aiming them at opposite walls.

Hotwire half-turned away again, rapping the flat of the cane-sword against a table-leg. Then she spun around, swinging it at him and neatly slicing off one of his missiles, before tossing it aside. It landed in a dustbin - which turned out to contain a small black hole, "I am NOT taking sides!" she shouted, "Megatron is bound to stifle my creativity!"

Scrap, the motherboard fragging bitch had called his bluff, and he didn't have much choice now but to follow through. He fired one of his missiles, blasting a wall apart that he hoped didn't contain anything TOO volatile; he was desperate, not suicidal. "Let me reiterate, this _isn't_ a choice, not for either of us. If I don't return in twenty-four hours, Megatron will bombard this SCRAPHEAP through the Space Bridge and then shut it down before the explosion has time to reach the wormhole!" None of this was stated of course, but it sounded enough like something Megatron would do that most people would buy it without a second thought.

Hotwire contemplated it for a moment. Megatron probably would do that, just to spite people, even if she'd developed a cure for Cosmic Rust. And hey, not all of the planet was made out of failures. Some of it was actually quite successful. Then she decided that listening to Starscream went against all her ideals. It wasn't that she didn't have many weapons that were guns. But she didn't usually make weapons that only caused small-scale damage, "Thanks for the warning!" she swung again, "Once you're offline, I'll make sure I board my escape pod!"

He dodged the swing – she was astonishingly nimble for being blind, but it hadn't improved her fighting skills – and caught her arm at the elbow. Then he thrust his free hand forward, burying all five fingers in her stomach, careful to avoid anything he knew to be vital, simply doing enough damage that her body would be forced quickly into standby to preserve itself until it could be repaired. "It's too bad really, knowing I'll have to deal with your smug arrogance every day. But at least it will buy me a little more time." He smirked as her Energon levels rapidly dropped low enough that her servos began to lose strength, her sword falling from her hand.

Hotwire suppressed a cry of pain, "Well, I suppose we'll have to look at it another way..." her hands shook, and she found a small gun - a rare case where it was not the gun that was special, but the bullets - and pointed it at her own head, "Alive, I represent your continued position of favour with Megatron," she cocked the gun, "Dead, I'm toxic waste."

The question bore on whether even a triple-changer was crazy enough to do it, and whether he had the guts to call her bluff.

He twisted the hand in her stomach to do more damage as the other released her now unarmed hand and grabbed the gun by the barrel, easily wrenching it up and away from both of them due to her weakened state. "It looks like we'll have to install a means of controlling you when Knock Out repairs you, maybe a way to cut off your Energon, perhaps enough electricity to scorch your circuits? Or we could just get you hooked on Energon additives. You see? You're not the only one who can get creative." Starscream smirked with those words, then began to laugh wickedly as her Energon poured onto the floor, "You know what? I'm actually GLAD you decided to do this the hard way!" At the very least, this sadistic pleasure brought a type of joy to the jet she'd never seen before.

Hotwire shuddered. With Starscream's hand ripping back out of her midriff like that, even more vital circuitry had been damaged. She touched it, and felt sticky Energon leaking fast. She didn't need to be able to see to know that was a bad thing. She considered offlining, just to spite the Seeker. But she didn't have it in her. And if she did, there were so many things she'd never get to make... the black hole gun, the machine for building machines that built catapults, the infinite energy device, and a mine that had a Decepticon/Autobot/Collateral switch...

She slumped with a soft whimper of unmistakable agony, "It'll be a short victory, Starscream," she looked both at him and past him, "You'll regret bringing me back... I'll make sure of it..." more Energon spilt to the floor, and she knew that regardless of how this planet powered itself, and how she kept up supplies for herself, she didn't have the medical knowledge to repair herself, "Besides... without me to keep an optic on it, this planet will self-destruct anyway. I'll lose all my research and you..." she baulked, spitting Energon into his face, "You'll get in trouble when you see how little a genius can do when she's jacked-off..." She slumped further, hanging limply from his outstretched hand.

Starscream growled and rolled his optics as he grabbed the braid of cables hanging from the back of her head, beginning to drag her out of the lab. "I couldn't care less about this planet, though if you can't make droids that can maintain their own home, you're worse off than we are. The Nemesis is perfectly capable of doing its own routine maintenance, even if the repairs need a personal touch." They exited the building. It would take a while to drag her there, but it would give him a little time to plot; his second favourite past-time, only surpassed by actually DOING treacherous things.

Despite being blind and seriously weakened, the femme was struggling. Her claws dragged along metal, slicing thin lines, and she managed to grab the doorway, "It has nothing to do with the droids!" she cried out, "The power source for this whole facility can't be turned off! It needs to be regularly siphoned by the testing of experiments! Even when they fail they keep it from exploding! I'll lose all my research!" she twisted and managed a very accurate punch to Starscream's sensitive cables, showing that even with four-million years between them meeting, and being blinded, she hadn't forgotten where they were located.

He howled at that and began to kick her in the face again and again, breaking her visor at first, then stomping on her face, barely avoiding piercing her head with his heel. "YOU FRAGGING BITCH! IF YOUR EXPERIMENTS WERE SO DAMNED IMPORTANT YOU SHOULD HAVE COOPERATED!" he shrieked, as she felt several small lacerations from on her face as the metal gave.

Hotwire intended to talk back, but the kicks rendered her temporarily incapable of doing so. If she could have spoken, she would have mentioned that despite being the best weapons designer in the universe - her Cyber-blog said so - Megatron was unlikely to agree with all her experiments. Some of them only exploded because they had went wrong - not that they weren't meant to break things, but exploding was just so _uncreative_. He'd hardly agree with the attempted development of psychic bullets, or the portable Star-Buster, or the Suicide Phaser. She scratched again at the floor, trying to curl up defensively from Starscream, trying to shield her face on impulse.

His angry screams slowly faded into a laugh that could be summed up as both psychotic and frightening. Clearly something had happened in the last few million years to change Starscream, whom she'd long known to be scum, for the worse. He stood and dusted himself off, recomposing himself before he began to drag her by the cables that served as something of a ponytail once more.

Hotwire had never really bothered to add weapons to her droids. Except for the purposes of a few installation tests; they were meant to make things when her lack of optics prevented her. It was scary. She knew every inch of this planet but not being able to see where she was going, with the addition of helplessness made it all worse. Her body hurt all over, and even though she was struggling, she had never been designed for battle. She managed to find her voice again, "What happened to you, Starscream?" she struggled weakly, "You used to be just a jerk... now you're a sadist?"

He slowed for a moment before his pace picked back up. "The price of war..." he said quietly, starting to pick up his pace, moving to a jog as he thought it over, his voice rising, "You have to adapt to survive, let alone become the second in command of all Decepticons." He dropped the subject entirely.

He could have told her that she wasn't exactly the kindest and most compassionate of mechs either. She had after all once worked with Shockwave; the only reason she'd left was to expand her skills beyond the acquisition of torture and information. She'd helped in the research of Dark Energon as a weapon, rather than a power source, and she'd helped extend mass-shifting into weaponised upgrades. She was responsible for no small number of deaths herself. And before she'd left Cybertron along with so many other neutral refugees, she'd been willing to share her discoveries with both sides, which had only prolonged the war.

Hotwire tried to pull her cable-plait away, but when she did so, only bled more Energon, "I don't want to work for Megatron!" she managed, trying to stop the bleeding with one hand, "But I don't want to be powerful! I just want to do my job! I was going to blow up a moon next week! This is all your fault, Starscream!"

Starscream shook his head as they left the main area of her lab. The space-bridge was some trek away, and he couldn't exactly fly her there, "Maybe then, you should have built some sort of venting system, perhaps a bridge shield to keep us out, instead of a plant you have to drain manually to keep it from exploding." he said as he shook his head, amazed she was still online by this point. He continued towards the portal and smirked a little, looking forward to the reward he'd get for bringing in such a dangerous mind.

"If it was like that..." Hotwire scratched at the metal some more. She could feel and hear them leaving the lab. Truth be told, _she_ was amazed she was still online right now. And there were measures that she had taken for hasty evacuation, but with this much weaponry on it, the planet itself had been doomed about two million years ago. She looked in his direction, "Can't we... work something out..." she groaned painfully.

He stopped to look down at her curiously. "And what exactly is it that you think you could offer me that would make it worth the punishments I would face by going back without you?" he asked her, frowning as he leaned down over her now limp frame.

That made Hotwire stop. She didn't have anything on this planet that could stop Megatron from killing Starscream. Come to think of it, from what she'd picked up from stealing cable recently, there was probably nothing in this or any other universe that could possibly stop Megatron from killing Starscream, should he desire to do so. She gave up reluctantly, the pain in her midriff overwhelming her systems, "Nothing..."

"I thought so," he said, a smirk on his face as he stood back up and continued to walk. Even if she had offered to let him stay, to become his personal slave, it wouldn't have been enough; Megatron would have simply come for them both, probably brought the entire Nemesis into orbit and bombarded the surface of the planet till it was nothing more than a cloud of debris, orbiting the star like some sort of planetary ring.

He dragged her through the portal and in the blink of an optic they were light years away, standing on the asteroid the Decepticons had built their massive Space Bridge on.

* * *

NOTE: It's good that you're enjoying the story and favoriting it, but if you mark it for watching in some way, PLEASE leave a review! Hell, if you read it, leave a review! I'm hoping that Hotwire is an interesting character and not a Sue. Or an Anti-Sue.


	3. Arrival On The Nemesis

Are You There, Primus? It's Me, Starscream

Co-Written By Breech Loader and Draven Of Shadow

* * *

NOTE: Hotwire is hardly the best of fighters – she can give you a nasty crack and hear where you are very acutely, but she wasn't a fighter before and I wanted to steer away from the Daredevil version of blindness.

* * *

Chapter Two: Arrival On The Nemesis

Starscream took the unconscious scientist straight to the medical bay, calling out for Knock Out. "Here, patch her up, but just enough to keep her functioning for now, we don't want this one getting any ideas of escape." he said to the curious medic.

"Right away, Commander Starscream," he bowed ironically, taking her to the table immediately beginning to do the patchwork, whistling a bit at the damage he found inside. As the crimson sports car based mech worked, his lieutenant made his way back to the bridge to report to Megatron on the relative success of his mission.

Megatron already knew, and was half-surprised at Starscream's success - not because of any lack of cunning and skill, but just as much that he had found what he had been looking for, and returned with it without some kind of poorly conceived last-minute dash for freedom, "I take it from the scientist's position in the medical bay, that she did not come willingly, Commander," he stated.

The Seeker nodded and bowed, making sure all of his bases were covered so Megatron couldn't be any more angry at him than was necessary for injuring his weapons chief. "She resisted, but it was easy, she must have blinded herself with one of her own experiments some time ago, since she couldn't even put up a fight," he spoke rather smugly, as if he were absolutely proud of the fact that he'd beaten a blind and possibly unstable femme within an inch of her life.

Megatron cared little for the dishonourable treatment of his prisoner, "Blind?" he asked sharply. He gave this thought. A Cybertronian who was blind could still take alts, but of course it was hideously difficult for them to drive in them. Even though most had some form of RADAR, SONAR or both installed as a replacement, even in the best possible circumstances that didn't make them any better of a fighter than they had been, "You never mentioned my new weapons engineer would be a _cripple_. Don't tell me that you have wasted precious time and Energon in the pursuit of dead weight, Starscream..." his hand moved fast, wrapping around Starscream's neck and starting to squeeze, "You _know_ what I do with _dead__ weight..._"

Starscream choked as both of his hands went to Megatron's wrist, gripping it tightly as he shook his head. "She's no warrior, but she never really was! She can still design weapons though! She has a whole planet full of them!" he shouted as he tightened his own grip a bit. "The only problem will be getting her to cooperate!" He nearly screamed, desperate to appease the angry ruler that held him.

Megatron's grip loosened slightly, just enough for his Second In Command to continue ventilating, "A planet _full_ of weapons, you say?" he asked, looking rather smug, almost as if capturing Hotwire had been his idea from the start. His grip was still tight enough that he could snap Starscream's neck with a simple squeeze.

He nodded at that and desperately vented for air, not that he needed it, but it was an instinctive reaction to his panicked state. "The whole fragging thing is highly volatile, it seems the fool built it to be sustained by her experiments. She claimed there's no venting system for the power core and her facilities can't drain enough on their own," he further explained, glad to see his master was enjoying the news that she would be useful.

"Our new weapons engineer made a bomb the size of a planet? Certainly an interesting tool to have in the Decepticon's hands," Megatron mused. He released Starscream's neck, not yet aware that the planet was less a tool, and more of a ticking time-bomb, "What are its defences?"

"What?"

"Come now, Starscream. You can't seriously expect me to believe the planet is entirely without defences?" Megatron leered, "If I am to take control of it in short order, I will need to know how many troops to send."

Starscream stood and dusted himself off before he answered his master. "The only defence seems to be that you have to bridge onto it, outside of whatever field protects it, the temperature would melt the hull of the Nemesis in a matter of minutes. She must have had a small scale prototype when she landed, it's the only explanation," he frowned.

"Hmmm... that would explain how she has not been disturbed yet," Megatron looked thoughtful, "No defences? I am not fool enough to set foot on that planet without sending scouting Eradicons first. But if this is some misguided attempt to deceive me, Starscream, your sufferance shall be like never before..."

"My lord, I tore her circuits open and dragged her for miles; not one of her drones made any move to stop me on the way in, or out. I assure you, it is defenceless. As long as they don't accidentally trigger one of the more volatile devices, the mission should go off without a hitch," he explained, carefully not directly pointing out how the whole lab was a sneeze away from vaporizing at least half a solar system.

"Very well," Megatron conceded. Being intelligent didn't equal being sensible - take Knock Out and Starscream. Such individuals could overlook the practically compulsory facts while focusing on tiny details, "Soundwave," he turned to his communications officer, "Send scouts to the co-ordinates of the planet Starscream visited. Have them investigate. I will send more troops to claim the entire planet after its inspection..."

Without a word, the loyal mech sent the troops, and Megatron turned back to Starscream, "Even now you continue to surprise me, Starscream," he sounded almost friendly, "You actually succeeded on your mission at the first attempt. But that femme had better survive - and she had better be smart enough to work for me. Or you will suffer in her place."

It seemed to Starscream rather unfair that he could get blamed for things entirely beyond his control. But pointing that out hadn't helped him before.

* * *

As Starscream grovelled and pleaded on the bridge, Knockout finished the main patchwork, though with an addition of a cut-off valve that would instantly restrict or halt the flow of Energon in her body with a certain phrase. He then started to pump Energon back into her body, though only just enough to support basic cognitive functions, he didn't want her getting aggressive in HIS medical lab after all.

There was the slight groan of somebody coming back online, and Hotwire opened her optics - not that it made any difference for her. The last thing she remembered was... was Starscream dragging her horribly injured body... somewhere... while she tried to convince him that... that her entire lab was a ticking time-bomb that would explode if she didn't invoke certain protocols... And with a tap of her fingers, engaging her SONAR, she knew that she wasn't there now.

Also, somebody was working on repairing her injured body.

"Where... where am I?" she asked. It was cliché, but it was a question that needed asking.

She could hear the sound of the hot rod washing off his hands; it just wouldn't do to have them stained with some other Cybertronian's Energon after all. "The med-lab of the Nemesis, flag ship of the Decepticon empire. _My_ lab to be exact, since yours will be raided shortly. I am Knock Out… I have spent some time keeping you from offlining permanently."

"Raiding my lab…"

"Yes. We'll take what is of value there for the Cybertronian Empire, maybe grab some of your tools, and then find out if you were really stupid enough to make the thing explode if you had too long of a dry spell in the lab." he explained in a rather nonchalant, though surprisingly civilized manner, despite the insult.

"What? I didn't _make_ it that way!" Hotwire sat up cautiously. Her cane was several million light-years away. She reached behind her head and detached one of her rotors. Never be without a spare... "It just turned out like that when I used a black hole as an energy source... You have to let me go!" She stood up off the lab table, and promptly collapsed to the floor. Her body was barely strong enough to support her own weight right now.

"Oh _no_," he said as he walked over, standing over her with his hands on his hips, "You see, here's the thing, you've already proven that you won't cooperate, there's no way we could allow you back onto a planet full of unknown but assumedly devastating weapons," he picked her up by her wrists, making sure she didn't have a way to attack him or mess with his body.

Hotwire tried to pull away, her anger rising rapidly, "Don't you get it, you idiot? You can't open a space bridge to that planet; the only reason it wasn't crushed into a singularity was because of the energy it took for machines to be making machines! And the time paradox I accidentally created! Besides," she sneered in Knock Out's general direction, "Just because something explodes doesn't mean that's what it was meant to do! A lot of those so-called-weapons are just first-drafts!" "Exploding is the least of what they can do!" She tapped a finger against his armour lightly to judge where he was and kicked out, catching him sharply on the knee and scratching his paint.

He tightened his grip, perhaps not as strong as the larger members of his faction, but smart, knowing the weak points of her wrist. She felt his fingers dig in, sending a sharp pain up her arms as she felt the strain on her nerve cables and servos, threatening to crush her hands. "_NOBODY. MESSES WITH. MY PAINT." _

"Yes, but..." Hotwire hated feeling weak. She made a mental note that if she survived this, she'd put more time into hand-held weapons. The mech's grip was tight and painful as he twisted there. She stifled the urge to cry out or beg, gritting her teeth, "You can't... I don't even know how long it will be before the core reaches critical mass, I kept meaning to test it but..." It had nothing to do with a planet being blown up; she'd been more concerned about losing any experiments. Now it looked as if they'd _all_ be lost, "I don't even know what will happen! You have to let me go back there!"

Knock Out sat her back down on the table and sighed as he shook his head, stepping back and going back to washing his hands as if she were filthy. "You're going to have to do better than that. Give us one good reason why it is in OUR best interest to let you go there, and tell us how we could possibly trust you, because you just proved Starscream right, we CAN'T trust you to not attack us the first chance you get." He said with a chuckle. That scratch in his paint automatically removed any sympathy or possible friendship he might ever have had with the Neutral scientist.

Hotwire sagged, finally realising that she couldn't get out of this situation in time to keep her lab-planet from exploding. She could make a new one but... it was such a waste. And it was a bore to replace things. It didn't make her any less angry though, "You're all idiots," she growled sulkily, "Well, you can fix me up all you like. I am not going to just... sit back and start designing for you creeps after this," _as if I would have done anyway,_ she thought, "I suppose you think you can scare me? It's a little late for that..."

She dug her metal claws into the table, thinking quickly. She was here against her will, and she was clearly wanted alive, for her magnificent brain. There was a lot that could be done with that knowledge. She might be trapped here, but she intended to make her captor's lives as difficult as possible. _Especially_ Starscream.

She looked back up at - or through - the medic, "This treatment isn't exactly endearing me to the Decepticon Cause," she sneered.

He frowned and shook his head, stretching a little as he went about cleaning up after the surgery, preparing to repair the scratch to his precious paint. "You poor little fool, if you had only been cooperative, you probably could have simply gone back to your lab and have maintained full reign there. All you would have had to do was provide the Decepticon empire with the weapons Megatron would commission from you." He finished tidying up.

Hotwire shook her head, and surprisingly, laughed, "Now where would be the fun in that?" she asked him. It had been a long time since she had talked to real people, "Besides, it doesn't trouble me whether you have my inventions or not. But it'll be a cold day in the Inferno before I work for Megatron..."

He smirked at that, and even though she couldn't see it, she could all but FEEL it in the sound of his words. "That's quite alright, feel free to be as uncooperative as you wish, we have ways if making you work. Eventually, you'll break," The medic said as she heard his hands transform. "They all do." With that, he turned around, and let her hear the sounds of electricity and a rotary saw.

He couldn't torture the captive without Megatron's permission, of course. He just wanted to see her scared. But to his disappointment, she didn't even flinch. All she did was to lie back on the slab, her expression a sulky sneer.

* * *

NOTE: These first couple of chapters have been a little… waxy, I think you'd say. The word sounds about right, anyway. But things will be loosening up now…


	4. Singularity

Are You There, Primus? It's Me, Starscream

Co-Written By Breech Loader and Draven Of Shadow

* * *

NOTE: Hotwire is hardly the best of fighters – she can give you a nasty crack and hear where you are very acutely, but this version of her wasn't a fighter before and I wanted to steer away from the Daredevil version of blindness.

* * *

Chapter Three: Singularity

Megatron watched his Vehicon scouts safely from the Nemesis, exceptionally pleased at what he saw on the system of HD-10180. The planet where Hotwire had 'set up shop', as one might say, was barely defended. Even destroying the drones had no effect on them; they were driven only by whatever protocols had been installed when Hotwire had been dragged away, and had no survival instincts whatsoever. And the landscape was littered with the aftermath of experiments.

The lab itself though… that was _impressive_. True, there was some destruction from Starscream's missiles but even he could apprehend a blinded femme scientist without much difficulty. There were a lot of projects all over the place. He had no idea what they did, since most of them weren't labelled – and why should they be? The only person there to see them would be Hotwire. They just had little notes reading 'DO NOT TOUCH' and 'DO NOT TOUCH _EVER'_ in a neat Cybertronian script.

Since so many things were glowing ominously, and he didn't know which one was the power core, and the planet didn't seem all that unstable just yet, he was having his scouts gather as much as they could transport back in one go.

"Starscream, I commend you on your success," he told the Seeker vaguely.

Starscream grinned a bit at that, bowing with a bit of dramatic flair, one arm behind his back and the other out from his side. "Why thank you Lord Megatron. As you can see, we need only... _CONVINCE_... Hotwire to work for us, and even the forge of Solus Prime would be useless when we could potentially destroy not only the forge and anything it creates, but entire systems with the push of a button…" the jet bragged, his voice brimming with confidence and pride.

Megatron doubted that anything could really replace the ridiculous magic that the Forge seemed to work on, but since he lacked another arm of a Prime just now, reality would have to do, "I am sure that she will grasp working for me is in her best interests quickly enough," he partially agreed, "But if-"

He was cut off by a Vehicon, "Sorry to interrupt, Lord Megatron, but I think something may be happening here..."

"What?" Megatron turned to the screen.

"Well, the soldiers are transporting most of the portable devices back to the space-bridge now, but there's something really weird going on in the lab... I mean, nothing's melting down but... well Sir, I think we've identified the power source for the planet..." Static was starting to cloud the line.

Starscream frowned a little, moving up beside Megatron to shout at the monitor. "Do NOT waste time, I told you, the whole planet is a ticking bomb! If you can't find something to activate to drain enough power it's certain to destruct!" His voice grew shrill as he gripped the communication console, shaking it hard as his optics went wide. "We can't afford to lose those weapons you idiots!" he screamed at the drone on the other end of the line.

Through the feed, Megatron could see a brightly glowing circle in a tube. He cast an infuriated glance towards Starscream, "I don't want that planet to explode just yet!" he snarled, "How long is there left?"

"I have no ... Lord Megatron!" the Vehicon returned, the static increasing, "There are no obvious... buttons, and ... what any ..."

Megatron turned to Starscream, "You _idiot_," he informed the Seeker, "Fetch Hotwire. I expect she will have some idea of how to handle this..." Starscream hesitated, "NOW!" he bellowed.

He turned around and stumbled as he began to run, clawing at the floor on his way back up. "RIGHT AWAY LORD MEGATRON!" he was panicking as he ran out the door and down the halls, reaching the med-lab and grabbing her off the table by one arm, "WE NEED THE PATIENT NOW!" He didn't so much TELL Knock Out, as announce it, dragging her away and tearing loose hoses, tubes, and wires from her chassis as she was drug along the metal floor back to the bridge. "Tell us how to drain the core or you can kiss your workshop goodbye!" He screamed in her voice, his vocal unit sounding ready to short out from the strain.

Hotwire's head spun as she was pulled down halls, dragged in places, well before she felt steady, "The fuel core shouldn't be detonating for at least 24 hours," she protested, clutching her head.

"Then what is going on that is so dreadful?" Megatron snapped at her.

"Well, it depends what the problem is being caused by," she returned, "But If you're in my lab, I'd place my bets on the naked singularity or the paradox I created from that time I tried to build a time machine. They're very sensitive and without the right protocols the droids don't use up enough power to..." she gave this some thought and smiled thinly, "Doesn't matter. If I told you how to shut it all down, would you set me free? I think _not_."

Starscream wrenched her to her feet and held her up so only her toes touched the floor as he shouted. "How about this then, either you tell us, or you lose you lab forever, instead of just until you're ready to cooperate," he motioned to the screen. "We're already getting electromagnetic disruptions on the coms, it's only a matter of time before ALL of your research, every experiment, every last little toy and belonging end up inside out in a singularity on the underside of the universe!" he shouted before shoving her towards the monitor.

Hotwire glared, "If the problem is stemming from my lab, it is nothing to do with the fuel core," she returned, "You don't keep a nuclear reactor in your living quarters, do you?" She rapped her fingers on her thigh, "If your men have been looting, I expect they've disconnected something important from something else..."

"Sir, there's something glowing in the lab," the soldier stated, "It's... to glow a lot... now though. And... spinning slower. Except…" there was more static.

"That would be the singularity," Hotwire grinned somewhat madly, "And I thought I had that one stabilised for analysis too. The power core keeps it spinning but with all the alterations your gentlemen have been making in my lab... Well, suffice to say that the planet isn't going to explode in 24 hours..." she gave the two Decepticons a moment of hope before crushing it, "It's going to be sucked into a black hole... any minute now."

Megatron frowned as he gripped her around the waist, lifting her till she was right in his face. "My Vehicons haven't touched anything labelled 'Do Not Touch' yet, we had planned to wait until you were a little more cooperative. What is it that you have in your lab that would cause compound electromagnetic interference?" His voice was calm and slow, but a slight tremor to it told the femme how angry he really was.

"Oh, lots of things," Hotwire couldn't see Megatron, but his voice was threatening enough, and she started to shake slightly, "I was developing homing nukes when Screamer over there arrived... a Space Bridge small enough to fit into a briefcase, although there were a few side effects... a gun that you wouldn't even be able to tell you had been shot by until you died… I suppose I'll just have to start from scratch..." She tried to pull back, scared, "It's hardly _my_ fault, Sir..." she looked towards Starscream meaningfully.

"Oh don't you DARE try and pin this on me, you half-baked exhaust sucking bit-jockey! YOU were the one who insisted on doing things the hard way, YOU are the one who said the only way you'd come along is if I dragged you, and YOU are the one who is going to FIX this!" he screamed as he grabbed her by the neck with both hands, pulling her right out of Megatron's grip. For that, the warlord smacked him hard, knocking him half way across the bridge.

He seethed, looking between them, "You will fix this problem," he told Hotwire.

"Can't be done, Sir," Hotwire rubbed her neck, "And don't look at me like that," she added, correctly guessing Megatron's current expression, "I appreciate you're contemplating torture right now but really, after a plasma mine blows up in your face, any torture after that becomes... redundant," she could hear the huge mech stomping over to her and started to back away, "It really can't be done, Sir!" she squeaked out, "I'm not even sure if I could deal with it! I'm not sure how it all works together, I just try and keep it stable and an escape pod ready! Besides, it's just a lab!"

"So you'll replace it?" Megatron asked.

"For you?" Hotwire laughed, though still cowering, "You'd have to do a lot better than just shredding me apart!" Megatron hit her across the room in a rage, and she curled up into a protective ball, expecting some serious agony for her insolence. But it didn't come. Something else happened first.

It was a soft, wet sound, like water dripping. The spinning circle shown in the lab slowed. Then it became invisible. Then the entire laboratory started scrunching towards it. The communications went entirely static, just before they could see what happened. Perhaps, from the last terrified, agonised expression on the Vehicon's faceplate, and his final scream, that was for the better.

"Connection lost," Soundwave droned. Within seconds, he couldn't establish any connection with any of the scouts on the planet. Even the co-ordinates where the planet had been were registering that it opened into empty space.

Megatron looked at the static on the screen, extreme displeasure on his features. Then he studied the rotors and wheels of the small femme, just before he kicked her hard. He turned to a pair of Vehicons, "Take her to a basic lab and lock her in. She _will_ support the Decepticon Cause, one way or another," he turned to the cowering Starscream even as the femme was half-carried away, no longer resisting – where was there left to run, anyway? "And as for _you..."_

Starscream jumped to his feet and stumbled backwards, cringing, shrinking in on himself as he held his hands up in front of him defensively, his voice trembling as he spoke. "I SWEAR to you Mighty Megatron, you WILL have your weapons lab, even if we have to rip her cortex one Byte at a time and transcribe it into a drone!" His voice was shrill again, this time with fear instead of anger. If he'd been human, he would have been sobbing in fear. That was NOT a tone ANYONE wanted to hear from Megatron.

"Fool! My new weapons designer is a _Triple Changer!_" Megatron snarled in frustration, "_Every_ idiot should know Triple-Changers are mad! No wonder she let her old lab go!" he advanced ominously, hatred in his optics, "Even so, she _will_ serve the Decepticon cause well and long. But tearing _her_ in half will not get me what I want…"

The seeker backed away, falling on his ass and scrabbling backwards across the floor as he shook his head, "Of course not! I'll begin torture immediately Lord Megatron! She'll talk, she'll help!" He screamed in fear when his back hit the wall, wishing he'd taken something from her lab at this moment, something that would send his leader to another dimension, or compress him to a singularity so he'd fall right through to the core of this miserable planet.

Megatron shook his head mockingly at Starscream's typical short-sightedness. Torture was always entertaining, but not always the best approach, depending on what you wanted out of somebody, "_You_ will not begin torture, Starscream," he told his Commander, _"I WILL!"_ He grabbed the Seeker by a sensitive wing and started dragging him down a hallway, heading for his quarters.

He screamed and thrashed, dragging his claws along any piece of metal he could dig them into, the sound screeching throughout the ship as his desperate screams echoed. "Mighty Megatron! My Lord and Master! PLEASE! I told you I would do my best! I did! YOU CAN'T DO THIS!" he cried out desperately, digging his claws into the floor and firing his jets.

"Starscream," Megatron dragged the Seeker up and looked directly into his optics, "If you _ever_ presume to tell me what I can or cannot do again, I will kill you where you stand. Do you understand?" This was no threat. This was a blunt statement of fact and to deny it would be fatal. He had to show absolute control, and especially of this Decepticon. Starscream simply nodded mutely, "Good. However, it seems to me that you have forgotten your place."

So saying, he hit the opening panel on his door, dragged Starscream in, and slammed it closed, locking it, "I am a flexible Lord and Master, Starscream," he told the effeminate jet, "If you continue to fail me in your missions and information gathering, I will find another use for you."

He gulped audibly, shaking his head as he moved to the corner, shielding himself with his arms as he frown. "I am sorry Lord Megatron, I swear! You just need to give me another chance! I have proven I can recover assets, something your other men have failed at time and again!" He was referring not just to the scientist, but his time on his own, when he single-handedly kept up with BOTH forces in terms of items he had captured, including an entire ship, red energon, and even indestructible armour.

"Perhaps you can, perhaps you cannot," Megatron conceded mildly, amused by the terror of his second in command, an almost tangible emotion, "And you _will_. But tonight, you will prove that you _deserve_ another chance, and you will start by unfastening your armour." When Starscream showed signs of hesitating, even in confusion, he narrowed his optics in warning.

He actually whined a bit as he looked away, though he began to undo his armour, starting at his chest and slowly working his way own his body as the metal dropped. If he could have, he would have blushed so hard it would have burst capillaries.

It clanked to the floor and Megatron admired his Seeker's slim and shapely form. Not much, though. Pleasure could come later. This was _punishment_, "Swing those hips," he commanded, "I've seen you dance in your dreams; now you'll dance for me."

He stood, absolutely livid, though still, Starscream knew better than to challenge Megatron, beginning to dance, his hips gyrating as he brought his hands over his head. "Is _this_ good enough..?" he asked, shame clear in his voice.

The embarrassment was an excellent start, and Megatron smirked wryly, "Next time, you will dance for the entire Decepticon Army, should I command it," he told him, "But for now..." He strode over to the almost naked Seeker and hit him. All the way across the room, "Why is it that to actually gain success from you, I must punish you for previous mistakes?!" he snarled down at Starscream, picking him up by a wing, "Perhaps I am not clear enough, or perhaps you simply believe that I would not follow through with my threats?!" he hit him again, across to Megatron's luxurious bunk.

He bounced off the wall with a groan of pain, writhing on the bed for a moment as he reoriented himself, trying to recover from the impact before shuddering as he sat up. "L-Lord Megatron... Please..." he pleaded as he recovered enough to speak again. "I-I've learned my lesson... I won't fail you again... Please..."

"Understand only this, Starscream," Megatron told him, picking him up one more time by the neck, looking into his optics, "From the moment you publicly pledged your allegiance to me, whether you meant it or not, you became my property. Mine to do with as I please. I know that the day you fully grasp this will be the day you cease failing me. And I want that day to be today..." he slammed Starscream face-down over the edge of his wide and comfortable bunk, bending him over, "Now you will open your interface port, or I will tear it open."

Starscream cried out and shuddered, hiding his face as he reached back, jaw tight as he undid the armour. He swore vengeance on his so called master for this dishonour. Of all the humiliations the former gladiator had put him through, THIS was the worst, the one he would pay for with his LIFE. Hotwire _would_ work, if only to make a single weapon, the weapon that would end this over inflated fool and make _him_ the Lord of the Decepticons once and for all.

Megatron leered and tapped Starscream's port with a talon, not bothering to be gentle in the slightest, "Quite the wide port you have there, you filthy whore," he informed his second. But he was done with playing, and pretending to be gentle. He climbed onto his bunk, dragging the humiliated Seeker with him. To him, it wasn't enough to simply embarrass Starscream, a Prince of Vos, here in front of him. He planned to make it so that whether they saw it or not, every mech on this ship would know what happened. Still cramming the Seeker's face against the many comfortable and stifling springs, he stroked his own port. It opened easily with a snap loud enough for his toy to hear, even face-down. His cable was already becoming hard from Starscream's dancing and grovelling, but he made sure to stroke it until it was entirely extended.

Starscream cried out and spun around, aiming his claws right for Megatron's cable with a scream. "Don't think I'll go down so easily!" he shouted before having his arm caught mid swing, pulling hard at his master's hand, "You can't do this to me! I am Starscream! I should be the leader of the Decepticons! I should rule the entire UNIVERSE!" he screamed and thrashed around, trying to break loose from Megatron's grip.

Megatron's grip tightened on his neck, a pinch short from ripping his head off. With a twist, he tore off his toy's arm at the elbow, savouring the scream. It wouldn't kill him, and it could be reattached at some later time. He slapped the mech with it, before tossing it aside, "I would kill you where you stand," he hissed venomously, "But you are not standing, are you? You're finally on your knees, exactly as you should be..."

Then there came a savage, hard thrust of Megatron's hips as he crammed his entirely hard cable into Starscream's completely dry port. It wasn't smooth, it wasn't careful, and it wasn't angled for pleasure - at least, not Starscream's pleasure. Megatron got enough enjoyment out of his scream to make his cable even harder.

Starscream lived up to his name just then, a scream so loud Megatron was SURE it would echo well beyond the walls of their ship, Energon leaking from his valve, almost as badly as from his arm. Starscream cursed and howled as he clawed at the bed with his remaining hand, his whole body trembling under the assault and his face tight with pain from the violation. Megatron's size felt like it might just be enough to do what the Gladiator turned dictator could never do with his hands.

Megatron knew all about torture. Shockwave was after all one of his Commanders. If you went too fast, the old pain would entirely dull the new. He waited for several seconds, both to let Starscream feel the full pain, and to savour his screech of agony. Then he pulled out - fully out, not just partly - and drove in again with a grin.

It wasn't quite as bad as the first time. But it was still fierce and cruel, and it went much deeper, tearing at highly sensitive circuits that were never intended to be treated so roughly. The only lubricant was Starscream's own Energon, and this was not a good thing, "Are you beginning to understand now, Starscream?" he snarled.

The jet's only response was a howl of agony, his claws tearing at the wall as he felt his body being destroyed from the inside out, little shorts in his body as his circuits gave under the force, his optics going in and out of focus from time to time as he trembled on the bed, finally managing a bit of a nod between shouts of agony.

Megatron gave him no rest though, grinning savagely. With one more brutal thrust of his hips, this time he started up a rhythm. It was not pleasurable. Hell, it was probably taking some concentration from him to get it this rough, "You will understand that you belong to me, Starscream, even if I must claim every hole in your body," he snarled, thrusting. He was starting to get his own pleasure from it now, and it spurred him on, "And you will not disappoint me again, even if only because you are so afraid of my reprisals!" He grabbed the Seeker's wings and dug his claws into them, forcing Starscream to move with him if he didn't want them torn off.

Starscream did his best to match his master's pace, if only because reattaching his wings would be a much more difficult task than reattaching his arm, given the lack of materials for such parts. At some point, he lost much of his voice, becoming quieter, but no less desperate in his please and curses, tearing the bed beneath him down to the steel slab that supported it.

Megatron enjoyed this submission; Starscream had a terrible habit of never learning his lessons - although all things considered this was a punishment he would be happy to deal twice. The Seeker was whimpering now, certain gears hitching in his throat. Had he been human, he would have been sobbing. He continued in his assault, his own arousal increasing as he wrapped one arm around his toy's neck, pulling him close, "Can you feel it, my dear Commander?" he hissed in one audio, his pace slowing for him to talk, "How the wretched helplessness rises up inside of you? How ironic that you made the femme so helpless, and now it happens to you..." He laughed callously as he banged his hips forward some more.

He cried out against Megatron, Energon dripping from the larger mech's cable onto the bed now as he shudder, his back arching from the pain as he shook his head. Starscream was reaching the limits of his body by this point, trembling in pain as he clawed weakly at the side of his leader's face, only managing to scrape up his helmet, and even then, just barely so.

It was pathetic, but any resistance was too much right now. Megatron punched Starscream in the midriff, then covered his fingers in the sticky Energon being leaked from tubes that had been created to be caressed and gently pressed, not torn and violated, "Suck it off," he ordered him with a leer, holding two fingers up in front of his face. He was nearing his orgasm now and he sped up.

Starscream wanted to resist, but by this point he was too scared to fight anymore, opening his mouth and taking the fingers into his mouth, weakly sucking and licking them as his optics fully lost focus, having trouble getting it back this time. He let out a few more groans around the fingers, but that was about it, much of the spark currently drained from his now battered body.

"That mouth of yours certainly feels practiced," Megatron mocked him. He slowed enough to wonder how to end it, and came to a decision. He remained in place, and slammed Starscream face down, dragging his still-hard cables out of the exhausted seeker as roughly as he had forced them in. To allow Starscream to pass out during this session would be to grant mercy, and Megatron was not feeling merciful. Instead, he all but threw the sobbing mech onto his back rapidly, and with a few rapid strokes, deliberately released onto Starscream's face and chassis, laughing harshly.

The broken traitor flinched and looked away, he face scrunched as he tried to pretend this want' happening, already planning his revenge as he whimpered quietly, shuddering on the bunk as he began to curl up, soaked in transmission fluid. There were all sorts of things, insults and curses and vows of revenger, he wanted to spit at Megatron, but Starscream was too weak, as well as too smart to do such things right now.

Megatron looked down at him, contemplating his next move. There were many options, but for now he nodded, "You see the punishment for failure, Starscream?" he asked, and continued, "Now, it is truly a question - should I risk keeping you to bunk here the night, and allow you to wash tomorrow? Or should I throw you out right now, to hurry back to your quarters and expose you to every Officer and lowly Vehicon for the dirty slut you truly are?"

Starscream shook his head, having trouble forming a response given his current state of disrepair and with all the Energon he'd leaked, he was luck to still be online at all. Slowly, the Seeker frowned as he reached to rub the torn elbow, whimpering a bit at the feeling of the ruined and soaked stump.

"Very well," Megatron smarmed. Starscream had certainly given his sex drive a good fragging, at the expense of having any pleasure himself. He was covered in lubricants, slightly curled up in pain, and snivelling. The leader of the Decepticons sat back, sneering, "You may wash tomorrow," he informed him, aware that this would leave the slim mech covered in filth all night and revelling in the knowledge. He trailed a talon down the smooth face, "But tonight, I think you will remain close to me. Because you are _loyal_."

The stilletoed mech just nodded, curling up tighter, trying to wrap his broken arm around his legs before realizing that he couldn't, since it was only half there. It didn't take long at all for him to pass out, his self-repair systems doing their best to repair some of the minor damage as he slept.


	5. Repression

Are You There, Primus? It's Me, Starscream

Co-Written By Breech Loader and Draven Of Shadow

* * *

NOTE: It's actually canon that most triple-changers are mad.

* * *

Chapter Four: Repression

Megatron was right about one thing at least. Triple-Changers _were_ mad. Maybe it was the additional Alt-Mode they needed to memorise, or all the extra Mass-Shifting they did, or maybe it was just something in their original programming, but almost two-thirds of them were deranged. Whether it was multiple personalities, something in the bi-polar spectrum, the most appalling mood swings or just being generally screwed-up, the best majority of them were a bunch of fragged-up crazies. Hell, there were Triple-Changers who were both afraid of heights _and_ got seasick.

Megatron had been explicit upon throwing Starscream out even before the water had time to dry. Hotwire _had_ to be on the side of the Decepticons. It made sense. There was no point capturing somebody to design new weapons if they were incentivised to make things that would blow up in your face. Therefore, agonising torture should be avoided.

Before he did anything else, Starscream started the day with an appointment with Knock Out, sighing as his Energon was replenished, relieved to hear from the medic that the internal damage was minor enough that it would heal on its own. The visit was humiliating and it was blatantly obvious that the smirking Knock Out was fully aware of what had happened. He sighed and flexed his reattached arm and hand a few times before heading to the lab that was currently holding their prisoner, hoping the honey approach would work better.

Looking in, he saw that Hotwire was just sitting stubbornly on a seat, gripping her metal cane in one hand with her back to the door. She didn't look up or speak when the doors opened, and if anything just curled in on herself a little more. The lab itself was pretty basic, but definitely had the ability for upgrades. Still, nothing had been moved since she had been locked in.

"Hotwire," he started, his voice much sweeter than the day before. "I'm afraid we got off on the wrong foot. I've had time to think about my... poor behaviour, since our break up. I really am sorry," he said as he slowly approached her from behind.

"_Starscream_," Hotwire felt her voice shake with anger, "The last time we met you tried to gouge my internals out," she flicked the cane across the floor and gauged where he was, "Then you let my lab blow up," true, it _was_ only a lab but she was just so _jacked off _right now, "We're not even talking a few million years now! We're talking yesterday!"

He frowned and stopped the cane with one finger, moving it out of his way as if it were something unpleasant. "I shouldn't have to apologize for that! I HAD to bring you, and YOU chose to make it the hard way. As for your lab, we TRIED to get you to tell us how to fix it. Both were simply matters beyond my control..." He stepped up behind her to rest his hand on her shoulders.

Hotwire flinched away and stood up, facing him, "Don't you get it?" she ranted, "You nearly killed me when I trusted you, and you didn't treat me any better when I _didn't_ trust you! This isn't about forgiveness! There's no reason why I should trust you! And this isn't even regular 'that's why it's called trust' - I don't just have _no_ reason to trust you, I have every reason to know you're going to pull this again! All you want is for me to work for Megatron!"

He frowned at that and shook his head, even though she couldn't see it. "Hardly. What I WANT is for you to make me a weapon I can use to free myself of his maniacal grasp!" he leant down to speak softly into her audial, "I promise you, I'd have just as soon left you in peace on that rock. I had no choice..." He sounded bitter, though it didn't seem to be aimed at her in particular.

Hotwire leant away a little, "Ha!" she laughed bitterly, "And why should I help you?" she tapped a blunt finger on his chest, "Not only do I not want to, but I can't see it benefitting anybody... except you..." She frowned, "I know the only reason you're pretending to be nice is because you want something. I know you're treacherous and manipulative and selfish and cowardly! And I know you think I'm hideous and a cripple!" she flipped up her visor again to show her blackened optics and scarred face, "But I don't have many ethics, and I should at least try to stick to the ones I do have!"

She flipped the visor back down and sat back on the seat, facing away from him. A sound hitched up in her throat, a little like a human might sound if they were trying to keep themselves from crying, but more like the engine of a car jamming.

He hugged her from behind and kissed her cheek. She was responding, and honestly, if he hadn't trained himself to ignore those traitorous things called feelings millions of years ago, he would have felt bad for her. "The only thing I want right now is to see Megatron dead. Though you're right, it WILL benefit me, as his second in command, I will be in charge in the event of... _another_... untimely demise." He frowned and rested his chin on her shoulder.

Hotwire gasped and slapped his face for the presumption of getting so close, so quickly. She got to her feet and, tapping against the floor and furniture, moved away from him, "And if I was an Autobot, that might mean something to me!" she returned, "Why should I help you? Why should I care if you are punished? I may be held here a prisoner but Megatron isn't such a fool as to execute me! I was doing just fine on my own... you ruined everything..."

He frowned at that and sighed, sitting on the table she had been sitting in front of, "If you'd prefer to remain the prisoner of a mad-mech who is more interested in killing every living thing in the universe and bringing it back as some puppet mockery of life as his slave, then that's your business," he stood up again.

"I _don't_ want to be a prisoner," Hotwire admitted, "But why should I trust you?" she rubbed awkwardly at her cheek. Starscream had kissed her. More troublingly, it was so very like the way he had kissed her when they had just started dating... when they were just falling in love... She dismissed it hurriedly.

"You don't need to trust me if you can't just _know_ me. I'm not half the fool Megatron is, I have no intention of keeping a prisoner that could launch my ship into the heart of a neutron star quicker than I could drain depleted Energon, and I don't trust you not to rig yourself to explode into a singularity if I were to kill you," he explained, using logic, his greatest weapon. Perhaps his plans weren't as intricate or grandiose as Megatron's, or as cruel and deranged as those of Silas, but the concept of logic and common sense seemed to elude his contemporaries. Not him though…

"Of course, you won't need me if I provide you with a tool to destroy Megatron," Hotwire couldn't help but feel a little bitter about that. It was a long time since she had actually been wanted for anything, "I'm not a Decepticon. I don't hold your tyrannical ideals, but I don't hold those corrupt and hateful ideals of the Autobots. Just because I can't see you, doesn't make me completely blind to your tricks and I... and I..." she looked away to entirely conceal her expression, "I most surely would be benefited more by telling Megatron of your latest plan. I wouldn't have to meet you, and you'd be horribly tortured..."

Starscream shuddered at that and rubbed at the joint that held his freshly-repaired arm in place. "You could, but it wouldn't help you out, the only thing you want is to escape, and the only escape ANYONE can have from Megatron is death, whether theirs, or his. Sometimes, even that's not enough." the jet talked of the Gladiator's fondness for the uses of Dark Energon.

"And you expect me to believe that if I help you, you'll just... let me go?" she asked incredulously with a wave of her hand, "Starscream, _please,"_ she held up one hand, "You don't care about me, nor any sentient mech except yourself. Don't expect me to trust to hope; I'm a scientist and I need a little _proof_."

He frowned and sighed as he started walking towards her. "Believe what you will, but I have no intention of dying at Megatron's hands or your own. Besides," he rested a hand on her hip. "I think I'm starting to like this new you much more than I ever did the old." He leant in, pressing his lips to her own as he wrapped his other arm around the small of her back.

Hotwire gasped as Starscream kissed her again, tilting her back and pinning her arms, if not painfully then firmly. He even stroked a long finger at the gears of her rotors; a terribly sensitive place for a rotorcraft Transformer. It sent a shudder through her much smaller frame and it was almost a full minute before he broke the kiss, "What are you going to do with me now?" she asked, a tremor of indignation to her vocals, "Are you threatening to rape me unless I help you?"

He pouted at that and let out a soft sound to let her know he was hurt, or at least he would have been if he couldn't repress such accusations so easily. "Of course not! I'm no hero, but I am also NO Megatron, whether you believe me or not." He said with a soft sigh letting his hand traced down her back to just above the sweet spot at the very base of her spine, just above her legs, finally stepping back from her.

"What do you mean, you're no Megatron?" Hotwire was slightly confused, and Starscream realised she knew nothing about the events last night. And how could she? She'd been locked in this room, "Megatron has a lower sex drive than a dead _space-whale_. If he wanted me fragged, he'd leave it to somebody more inclined to casual interfacing. Like you," she added slightly maliciously.

He growled and screamed, tearing a chunk out of the nearby work table with both hands before he calmed down a little, "I'm sorry, _clearly_ you're out of the loop," his voice shook as he started towards the door without really explaining anything.

Hotwire reeled away from the sound, "Well obviously I'm out of the loop, I've been locked up for hours," she moved up behind him quickly, taking hold of his sensitive wings, "Tell me what you're-" she stopped, fingers tracing over deep and as yet unhealed scratches on the edges of his wings, "Oh... please, tell me I'm wrong..."

He scowled at that and pulled away, hissing from the sting, "I don't know what you're talking about," he muttered as he stomped towards the door, heels clicking loudly as he held in his pain, not wanting her, or anyone, to see him like this.

"And I sure hope that you don't," Hotwire's low drawl was surprisingly reassuring, "I _definitely_ don't agree with what you did to me. But that doesn't mean I agree with how Megatron treats you. And it doesn't mean he has any right... nor that I think less of you..." she took his wing again and turned him around, the tips of her fingers touching his cheek cautiously, "But when you hurt, it helps to admit it."

"Fine!" he shouted as he dug his fingers into the door behind him. "Joining the Decepticon cause was the worst mistake of my life! Are you happy now?! The ideals I joined for, the power of the underclass! It's all a lie! Every day for millions of years I've felt to be nothing but a punching bag! Is _that_ what you want to hear?!" He was trembling a little as he stared at her, optics wide.

Hotwire winced at his tone of voice. It had been only moments ago, but she had frozen up at the way she had felt when Starscream touched her, to keep safe from him. Yet almost without warning it came back, sending a thrill down her spinal column. She didn't lower her hand from his cheek, but put the other on his chassis, intended to keep him at arm's length but unwittingly close to his Spark, "If it makes you feel better?" she shrugged, "Maybe…"

He frowned and shook his head, growling a bit as he crossed his arms across his chest. "Why would that make me feel better?" he asked, his voice unsure. He'd never been shy about his doubt of their leadership, but this was the first time he'd ever truly admitted joining the Decepticons could have been a mistake.

"It might take some weight off your chassis," Hotwire turned away again, tapping her way back to the seat, "It might inspire you to let me go at the cost of your own safety..." she snickered audibly. As if _that_ was ever going to happen... "If you keep things to yourself, you'll go crazy from the weight. I worked that out when I woke up one morning and realised I'd married my own laptop..." she sighed absently, "But it was the most amazing three months of my life..." she looked up again, "You need to get some control in your life."

He couldn't repress a slight snort at her 'revelation' of marrying her own laptop. That alone was enough to raise his spirits, at least a little. He moved to pull her chair out for her and rested his hands on her shoulder as she sat. It seemed she was finally warming up to him a little, if she'd tell him something like that.

"That's why you kidnapped me, wasn't it," she added, looking towards him. There was spite rising up in her voice, "You wanted some control, and the only person you can push around is a blind, crippled, hideous freak." She moved to push his hand away, still uncomfortable with him touching her - especially since every time he did so he got closer.

He frowned at that and stamped his foot. "I never said one word about you being a 'hideous freak'!" he shouted, "I don't appreciate you putting words in my mouth." He turned and stomped towards the door, his heels clacking loudly.

"You were _thinking_ it!" Hotwire shouted back at him, "It's the scars! I can _feel_ them there!" she touched her face lightly, before hugging her knees. When Starscream looked at her, her position was not unlike how he had curled up after last night's rough-and-tumble with Megatron.

He looked back and sighed, hugging her from behind, his arms over her own. If it wasn't for the scars, she'd be quite attractive. And she had a point; when her visor was up they did look pretty awful, "Scars are only scars; it's what they _mean_ that matters. It looks like your scars AREN'T a sign of dedication to your work, but one of weakness right now." He smiled as he kissed the back of her head.

She flinched slightly, but didn't push him away, and he knew he'd hit a delicate spot with her. Something he could use, "I'm not _weak_," she insisted awkwardly.

He repressed the smirk, and the smug feeling that came with it, his voice frank, "Somebody who'd choose pity over duty and pride; to me, that's the definition of weak," he murmured as he nuzzled the side of her head.

"I don't need your _pity_," Hotwire spat. That wasn't _entirely_ true. Everybody liked a little sympathy now and then. But Starscream was the last person in this Universe she'd have elected to have it from, "But I don't have a duty to Megatron either," she added as he started to move in little by little, her body stiffening up in a combination of nervousness and embarrassment.

"Then what about a duty to yourself?" he asked as he softly rubbed the back of her hands. "A duty to the sciences you hold so dear?" This question was even more direct, implying that she'd rather cry about her problems and label herself something to gain his pity than advance her own studies.

Hotwire opened her mouth, then hesitated, and he knew he was getting in. She had always been so much more emotional than him, "Well... as I've said, I don't have many morals or ethics... and they mostly involve science," she admitted.

He let his hands slowly slide down her legs now, kissing the top of her head and hugging her around the waist and her shins. "Perhaps you could start by upgrading the lab, it would keep Megatron off both of our backs, and allow you to continue your work," he told her softly, knowing that she could construct _tools_ more useful than their current weapons.

"Yes... the lab is really in a most..." Hotwire sucked in a vent when his fingers lingered over her legs, and she lowered her feet back down to the floor, "A most terrible state... if Megatron expects me to create anything of use I'll need-" she stiffened as he touched her again. And because she couldn't see it, almost all of the sensation went to her sense of touch. She squirmed, trying to suppress the warm feeling coiling up and moving down.

He laughed softly and nodded as he kissed her cheek, his hand moving to rest on her midriff instead. "It really is; this lab has been unused for some time. It hasn't had a proper upgrade in a million years or more." He chuckled, "You see, unlike you, both sides in the war seem to have regressed since the days of old." He let out a soft sigh.

"Yes, so much has been destroyed and-" Hotwire had been desperately trying to pretend that Starscream's touch was not affecting her but it was, oh, it was. He most surely knew it was too, "However, I'm sure an individual like Soundwave has full documentation of this lab," she added, the words rushing out, but not quite fast enough to hide the soft whimper that escaped her.

He nodded at that and began to slowly pull his hands back, letting his fingertips trail across her stomach along the way, "Likely…"

"Starscream, I think..." Hotwire swallowed, a tremor passing through her like a flash, "I think you should leave and I will make a list of the things I will need." It took a great deal of will-power and the memory of how they had parted and what he really wanted from her to stay very still, doing her best not to reciprocate. Especially when his hand moved over the healing scar he had gashed into her.

He nodded as he stood slowly, resting his hands on her shoulders once more and rubbing them softly as he spoke. "Of course, we'll prepare everything we have right away." His voice was soft and reassuring, even though she knew what he was really like.

"I bet you will," Hotwire felt her voice shake, "Just remember, Starscream," she concentrated in an attempt to ignore his hands. Why did he have to keep touching her like that even when he had what he wanted? "I'm the only person here who won't automatically side with Megatron out of self-preservation when people foul up and get punished."

He frowned at that and shook his head with a bitter laugh. "You only say that because you don't know Megatron as well as I do…" He began to walk back towards the door.

"I never said anything I didn't mean, Starscream," she didn't try to stop him leaving this time, but stood up and walked to the touch-screen writing board and picked up a pen, "And I don't change my mind much either. What Megatron wants from me, and what he'll get... well, we'll have to wait and see how those things match up..."

The door slid shut behind Starscream, and he headed to the bridge, a triumphant grin on his face. But deep inside, he felt some small shadow of doubt from her words – and he wasn't even sure what it was he doubted.

* * *

NOTE: Come on, if you read it, please take a few minutes to review! I even allow guest reviews! I'm not scared!


	6. Embrace

Are You There, Primus? It's Me, Starscream

Co-Written By Breech Loader and Draven Of Shadow

* * *

NOTE: There's a saying about Minions. Strong, smart, dependable… pick any two.

* * *

Chapter Five: Embrace

On the bridge, Starscream found Megatron looking at a large screen. He could see it was a live feed from Hotwire's new lab. She had finally decided to start working, and was writing on the touch-screen. It looked like she was writing a list.

"A _masterful_ approach, Starscream. Convincing the femme that what she creates will be used to kill me and free her," Megatron looked hard at Starscream, and he knew that the metal warmonger could see right through him, "Amazing what people are capable of with the proper motivation, isn't it?"

Megatron pressed a button and a play of the lab from a matter of minutes ago came up – a short feed of Starscream standing over Hotwire and touching her up. It had been amusing at the time, even knowing he was certainly being watched. Now that he could see the tight, nervous expression on her round face after he kissed her, it was less hilarious. Especially considering his motivations for doing so. Several Vehicons were making lewd comments from their positions. And since Commander Starscream was present, they were mostly about Hotwire.

He dismissed them as unworthy of attention, and nodded, bowing with a flourish as he looked up to his master. "Of course Lord Megatron, I live but to serve you." The Seeker composed himself, standing back up after a few moments. "She's started planning; soon we'll have tools even more useful in this war then our weapons have been, and then the weapons will come. If one of her _batteries_ could destroy an entire planet, I can only imagine what a true weapon could do." He grinned, knowing that as long as _she_ was useful, he'd have some degree of protection.

Megatron nodded and turned back to him, "Most of what she's asking for now are upgrades to the laboratory she's being kept in," he continued, "Starscream..." he beckoned the Seeker forward, his optics narrowing.

He stepped forward a bit nervously and looked up to the large ruler with a pensive frown. "Yes my lord?" he asked, worrying if Megatron was going to be foolishly impatient and potentially ruin everything like a child.

"You are always trying to get my officers on your side," Megatron growled softly, "It's astonishingly predictable of you. Do you remember what happened last time you got predictable? Of course you do. Punishing you is _so_ enjoyable... but I'm not quite so confident that _you_ enjoy it," he tapped a claw on Starscream's chassis.

Starscream shuddered a little and shook his head before speaking. "Lord Megatron, she needed someone to shift the blame to if ever she were to be of any help to the Decepticon cause. This way, she has hope, and really, is there any greater motivation?" He asked with a bit of a smirk, though he was trembling from his own nerves.

"It seems to me that all this 'tool construction' is a wonderful way to buy herself some time," Megatron returned, "Don't think you can take advantage of any naiveté she displays, Starscream... _I_ will be watching her progress just as closely as you. And for your sake, there had _better_ be progress. Now, go!"

The Commander nodded and hurried away to his duties, and Megatron watched him, "I want my pet watched," he growled to Soundwave, who nodded mutely.

* * *

Two days later, Hotwire had finally managed to acquire most of the tools she needed. The lab she was still contained in was still, in her personal opinion, pathetically underequipped, but at least she could push around two Vehicons, telling them exactly where to position things.

"Two feet to the left," she ordered a 'con. She took a moment to look around, at least in her head, at how the lab should look.

Starscream watched her, a rather interested look on his face as she had her fun, wondering if she was actually accomplishing anything as the Vehicon did its best to follow her directions to the letter.

"I don't see that it matters," one of the Vehicon complained, "It's not like you can even see where it goes..."

"Oh, I can't, huh?" Hotwire nodded, tapping her cane, "I suppose then..." with her metal cane, she hit out, hitting the 'con accurately on the arm. He cursed and dropped the heavy table he was carrying, right on his foot. This made him curse even louder, "…that must have been a terrible accident."

Starscream smirked and laughed at that, rather enjoying her mean-spirited revenge. The individual who persuaded her to work a little harder would certainly be acknowledged. He understood that Soundwave was watching her too, as he did everything on this ship. And he didn't want to be outclassed by the mute again.

The lab certainly LOOKED impressive, but as far as production went, it was style over function. "Hotwire," he turned to her. "I trust the lab is good enough for you to begin developing the proper tools you need?" he asked with a frown.

Hotwire looked in his direction, and smiled condescendingly, pointing a Vehicon to position a computer, "Oh, Starscream," she smirked, and there was a definite shadow of unpleasantness there, "It will be at least a million years before this lab is even up to _competing_ with the one that was sucked into a black hole," she tapped her way up to him, "You're not the only mech who can manipulate people," she scowled, "You think you're so fragging entitled..."

He leant down to hiss in her audio, "Just remember that Megatron is not patient. It won't take long for him to do far worse to you than he's done to me, you should see what's left of the last one to try and play him; you can _still_ hear the meat screaming inside that scrap heap." He was referring to Silas, strung up in some unused room with Breakdown's corpse torn apart, his own body in further ruin, and his pain killers cut off.

Hotwire pulled back a little, "Once you left the lab, I got to thinking," she tapped on a keyboard thoughtfully, "Who has the most to benefit from my weapons? Why, it's whoever has the tightest squeeze on my neck when I start producing the blueprints! You must think I trust you! But I don't trust anybody on this ship!"

He frowned as he moved behind her, hugging her around the waist once more as she typed, softly rubbing her stomach as he watched what she was working on. "Obviously, why would you bring this up?" he asked curiously.

Hotwire squirmed away from him, trying to do so before he could get closer, "It's obvious, isn't it?" she asked, "You said it yourself. I'm here to create weapons. Back on that rooftop... you had all those grand designs then, too! You said you didn't mind who I sided with, so long as I was happy, but that was a lie; when I wanted to stay neutral, you pushed me off the roof!"

Behind her, the Vehicons nudged each other in amusement at this information, and Starscream knew that in the next hour it would be all over the ship that he had been dumped by a blind femme. Even if she hadn't technically been blind at the time.

He frowned at that, actually sounding as it hurt when he spoke. "I told you how sorry I am that I did that, that I acted so hastily," he hugged her again, hoping he could affect her as he had before.

Hotwire didn't feel all that inclined to be nice, even slightly, "How can I trust you?" she asked, starting to wriggle away, "I mean... look at where you've taken me!" she spread her arms, "I don't care who wins the war, but I do want to know that whoever comes out on top won't toss me away like garbage!"

He couldn't help but to laugh as he let go of her. "You'll _wish_ Megatron would do that," he said bitterly as he turned on his heels.

"You," Hotwire waved towards the Vehicons, "Get out. You," she pointed to Starscream, "You said something like that before..." the Vehicons weren't moving, and she frowned, "Well?" she walked towards them, "Out!"

"Don't see why we should obey a cripple," one sneered, "Especially a slave…"

Hotwire nodded, "Yes, I understand entirely," she rapped the cane against a table leg, and the sound rang across the lab. Then she nailed him in the crotch with a highly accurate punch, and he went down like a felled ox, "_My_ lab. Out," she told the two of them, before turning towards Starscream, "How about you stay?" she asked him.

He frowned a little and tilted his head. "Of course..." his voice was quiet as he wondered just why she might want to talk to him alone.

Hotwire waited until one Vehicon had carried the other out. Now they were able to speak in private, except for the mechs who ran the security system of the Nemesis. And it felt a little more private anyway, "This doesn't mean I trust you," she walked up to him, "But it's been four million years and... well, I guess I've forgotten what you look like..."

She put the cane across her back and reached out, touching his cheek. Then both of her hands took his face gently, and stroked as she concentrated. You could get an idea for things with Sonar and Radar, but they just weren't the same. For the first time since arriving on the Nemesis, the Seeker actually saw her smile.

It earned her a bit of a smile back, though it was much tighter and jaded than she remembered, as if the happiness she'd once seen in his eyes was dead, or perhaps in a vegetative state. He did the same, tracing the shape of her round face.

"You can lift the visor, if you must," Hotwire conceded, stroking the crest on his forehead and his eyebrows with careful fingers. Her hands ghosted back down again, to his shoulders. The smile dropped off her face at the thought, "_There_ we go..." she murmured, her fingers trailing over his lips.

He lifted the visor slowly, memorizing the deep scars, "What's wrong?" he asked, seeing her smile vanish. Something had ruined her moment of exploration and he was curious as to what it was.

"Well, I..." Hotwire hesitated. When you could see, you didn't bother to make that many notes on how things _felt_ but when they had been together... _Then_ she had 'seen' Starscream's lips, and they were exactly as she remembered them. There were other parts of him that she half-remembered the feel of too, and she felt heat rise to her cheeks, "It's nothing," she lied, reminding herself how he treated people. She'd never been much good at lying.

He smiled softly at her reaction and traced his fingers closer towards her eyes, then back down to her lips with a soft sigh. "Liar…" he leant in to kiss her softly, holding her around the waist as he enjoyed the feel of her body against his own. It was a familiar line he almost wasn't ashamed to say he missed.

_"I don't trust you..."_ Hotwire whispered without thinking as she was tilted back and their lips met. She couldn't see it and for once she didn't need to. She tried to smother the feelings with anger, tried to tense up, but there was so much tender passion there already. She sucked in a sudden, heated vent as their hips bumped slightly.

He frowned and nuzzled the side of her neck before kissing it, shaking his head a little as he hugged her, his hands on her backside, playing with it and chuckling a bit as he lifted her, "You don't have to trust me to know the truth." He laughed softly. As much as he wanted to say he was just playing with her, he did still enjoy her company, more than he had expected to.

"Maybe not, but I-" Hotwire gasped at a particularly intimate touch, and her rotors clattered as she stood up straight again, turning away from him, "What... what is the point of this?" she asked, her vocals sharp, "Why are you doing this, Starscream?"

"Huh?"

"What could you possibly hope to gain from treating me like this?!" she clenched her fists, "It's all a lie and I won't let you take me for a sucker again!"

He frowned and put on a hurt look, shaking his head as he let go of her, holding his hand up in front of him defensively, "Just that you'll understand we have a mutual interest. And perhaps that we'll grow a little closer. I tire of being alone, but I understand why you don't trust me," he spoke defensively.

"I... I..." the rotorcraft hunched up, but managed to pull away from him, pulling out her cane and making her way to a chair, her smaller frame shaking slightly, "I just can't believe you! You tricked me into being nice to you! After all you've done to me!" the strange thing was that Starscream felt a nagging discomfort at those words, "And now you just keep on... with the..." she clutched her head, "Oh, why did I even _look_ at you?"

He moved to stand beside her, hugging her so her cheek rested on his stomach. "That's more than I gave you before; it's sincerity, strength in unity, a desire to be together. I can't offer you more than that," the jet stroked her cheek softly, soothingly.

At least she didn't pull away again, although from the way her frame shook, she was halfway to doing so. After several seconds she stood up again, her head leaning on his chassis, "You're a... a liar," she murmured, and the words hitched up in her throat even as she said them. She had been alone for such a long time that she barely remembered how it felt to be close to another sentient being. But genuine or not, he was getting through; they could both feel it.

He nodded softly as he held her against him. "I am that," he admitted as he kissed the top of her head, holding her closer, "But it's you and me against Megatron," he continued, "Neither of us want to be killed or disposed of."

He was starting to stroke at her gears again, and another shiver went through her, making her rotors rattle. She whimpered, the warm feeling coiling up inside, and touched his cheek cautiously, "What do you want from me, Starscream?" she asked him, "What do you _really_ want?"

He frowned again and thought for a moment before answering, "Your help... Your… body..." he smirked, "Maybe even your affections? I don't know..." He was genuinely unsure, he didn't know exactly what it was, but he knew he needed her functioning for it. Who knew? Maybe she might even be capable of playing a role in making him happy.

It was tough to read Hotwire's expression with the visor that concealed her face, but he got the feeling she was maybe a little amused, "How do you feel about two out of three?" she asked.

He shrugged, then a smile showed on his face as he hugged her a little tighter against him, "I think it might be a good way to start." He looked down to her, worrying that his ruse might be falling to the wayside, that she might own him as she had before. That maybe, just maybe, he wouldn't WANT to resist this time.

Hotwire detached herself from him again, putting her feet back on the floor and moving to the desk, "Then I'd better get to work," she smiled dryly, picking up the touch-screen pen again.

* * *

NOTE: WHICH TWO?!


	7. A Lie Feels Good

Are You There, Primus? It's Me, Starscream

Co-Written By Breech Loader and Draven Of Shadow

* * *

NOTE: Sex, this chapter. But don't worry. There's still a lot to happen yet before actual _love_ comes into the equation.

* * *

Chapter Six: The Lie Feels Good

It was four days and one Energon-gathering mission – a _horribly failed_ mission - since Starscream had last poked his attention into her lab, and Hotwire was finally starting to put things together. The Commander had known in his Spark that she wouldn't be able to keep herself from the task at hand for long.

Apparently _this_ task at hand involved developing phaser blasts that could beam a virus into even the hard drive of a Cybertronian. It wasn't entirely the virus that was the problem. In Hotwire's opinion, which was loud and barely capable of being expressed indoors, it was hardly a weapon if you had to risk a battlefield to use it. She was working on having it beamed via satellite.

Starscream walked up behind her and touched her shoulder. She was short enough that he could easily have rested his chin on her helm. She tensed up nervously, but at least _this_ time she didn't pull away.

Starscream ran his hands slowly down the scientist's arms, leaning over her to see her work "How interesting, a weapon like this is quite novel, but the applications... I'm quite certain you weren't THIS brilliant a few million years ago." His hands reached her own, squeezing them a bit.

Hotwire swallowed and reached out for a small cube of Energon, "Oh, I was," she insisted, trying to ignore how close he was to her, "You were just too busy with your own agendas-" he ran a finger down her arm, and her hand started, spilling the cube over the desk. She couldn't help but flush heatedly, "I really wish... that you wouldn't do that..."

He stepped back from her, not pushing her boundaries today as he so often did, almost shocking her more in the fact that he was simply letting her have her way for once. "Unfortunately, we do not yet have a way to produce artificial Energon, the recipe was destroyed by those accursed Autobots." he moved beside her, his hands crossed behind his back.

"We wouldn't have a problem like that if the Autobots were as willing to sacrifice their friends as they are complete strangers," Hotwire commented dryly, and it was nearly impossible to tell if she was being sarcastic or genuine. She turned back around, more for courtesy than practical purposes, "That's biology though. If I knew about biology I wouldn't have let you kidnap me half to death." She frowned a little, surprised that he had let go of her without her having to ask more than once. It wasn't like Starscream to respect personal boundaries, "Listen, there is one more thing I could use... I'm getting a little tired of being locked in this lab constantly, so if you could have a word with Megatron..?" she suggested.

He quirked a brow and turned to her with a grin. "Oh? So the great and powerful Oz wishes to step out from behind the curtain?" He realized almost immediately that she wouldn't get the line, none on the ship would, they hadn't spent the time trapped down there with those meat sacks he'd been FORCED to. "I'll see what I can do, with something to show for better treatment, I'm certain he'd grant you more autonomy to assure a further increase in output." He said with a chuckle, curious as to what exactly she would do outside of her lab.

Hotwire nodded, not especially expecting much. She picked up the cane and walked past him, stepping around a Vehicon and shooing another out of her way, "I used to have a planet under my control. Not a big planet, and not much of a population, but still a planet," she hooked a chair closer to herself and sat down, "Now I'm effectively a slave," she sneered angrily.

"Really?" the seeker asked as he moved to stand in front of Hotwire, a distasteful smirk on his face. "Isn't enslaving its people the end goal of ANY government?" He asked a rather philosophical question of her as he moved to take a seat on a nearby table, "At least a slave is respected for their contributions for the cause instead of simply punished for their failures." He sighed.

"At least an employee gets paid," Hotwire retorted, then looked away, "If you hate it here so much, why don't you just leave?" she asked him, ignoring the Vehicons putting together a work-table to one side, "If you can't leave, you might as well be a slave."

Starscream laughed at that as if she'd just asked a destitute man, 'if you don't like your life, why not buy a new one?' and nearly fell from his seat. "You think I haven't tried?" he asked incredulously. "It doesn't go well. You end up gutted, hunted by both sides, homeless, without so much as the basic Energon needed to run your systems, you're better off ripping your own spark out and eating it." The jet's voice was bitter, clearly speaking from experience.

"I was managing well enough on my own until you came along and did a little conscription," Hotwire rapped her cane against her leg sourly, "I suppose you wanted somebody else to share in your experience..." Admittedly the Energon had tasted like it was thrice-processed and the company was a collection of brainless drones, but she had been fine, at least in her personal opinion, "And I hardly even noticed the encroaching insanity at all," she finished out loud.

Starscream couldn't help but laugh at that as he stood again, pacing circles around her, the click, click, click of his heels on the floor a sharp rhythm to her finely tuned audios, "That's when it's at its worst you know. When you don't know you're crazy I mean." He chuckled.

"Oh, everybody knows Triple Changers are crazy," Hotwire frowned as Starscream moved behind her. She couldn't see him anyway, but it still made her feel uncomfortable. She stood up and tried to keep facing him, though it wasn't a simple matter, "You don't like being alone though," she stated to him.

He frowned at that, making a rude sound she could barely make out, "What can I say," he finally came to a stop, facing her once more. "I'm great company, but the sort best appreciated when I can truly shine over others." He laughed.

"You like it when people admire you," Hotwire concluded, "Typical Seekers... always looking down on people..." She turned her back on the taller mech and picked up a touch-pen, "I heard you laugh when you first saw... the optics," she referred to him finding out she was blind.

"Can you blame me, really? I assure you, I was NOT happy to be there to get you, no more so than you were to see me. Learning that you'd burnt your own optics out, it was almost therapeutic at the time, knowing I wasn't the only one that made a mistake that day with the path they chose for themselves." His voice was calm, he wasn't making excuses or pretending it wasn't some of the pettiest bullshit she'd ever heard. The only thing she could take from it was that he didn't directly think less of her due to her disability.

"I manage just as well with RADAR and SONAR as I ever did with full visuals," Hotwire insisted. But she remembered how she'd touched Starscream's face to look at him, and heat rose to her cheeks all over again. She'd been so far away from the world that she'd forgotten how that might be taken by others at the time.

He moved up behind her as she worked with the pen, hugging her around the stomach and letting her feel the light scars that covered his chassis, "Just as well indeed," he said softly, tracing his fingers over her midriff.

Hotwire's hand started again, messing up an equation. It looked like Starscream didn't know about boundaries after all. But then, she hadn't minded _before_ all the unpleasantness. And she was so terribly aware of his touch. Her rotors clattered at the feel of it, and she didn't pull away. The hand not holding the pen reached behind her, and met with the Seeker's sleek thigh.

Beneath her hand were several new scrapes and dents that had yet to be repaired by Knock Out, and the feel of that hand arched his back, making him moan softly as he traced his fingers further up from her stomach towards her chest.

"You... got kinda busted up today, huh?" Hotwire asked. Her answer was his fingers brushing against some very sensitive gears, and she gasped at the sensation, inadvertently squeezing his leg.

He dug his fingers in just a bit from the sensation, rubbing across those gears all the more as his hips bucked a bit, finally kissing her on the cheek. "A little, yes." his lips practically brushed her pickups.

Another touch from him, and Hotwire dropped her pen even as she started to lean back against him, her hand sliding up his leg without even thinking about it, "Why do you… keep doing this to me…" she moaned to him.

He smiled a bit as he ground gently into her back, his hands sliding down slowly, moving to her hips as he hissed softly behind her. "Maybe we were made for each other," he whispered into her audio as he stroked her cheek.

The suggestion seemed both ludicrous and plausible at the same time. Starscream was an officer and Hotwire... well, she was little more than a prisoner and a slave right now. But the rotorcraft leant her head back slowly, her frame trembling and her hips shifting forward slightly. Behind them, the Vehicons were starting to edge out of the lab, most likely feeling that they had overstayed, but she didn't even notice, her other hand moving to Starscream's other thigh, and both of them moving up together.

As her hands moved up, his moved down, finding the crux of her hips and thighs, close to her innermost zone, rubbing softly with a murmur as he arched his back, pressing himself into both her back and her hands as he kissed her visor much as he had once kissed her between the optics.

"This... this is all just..." she moaned even deeper as he touched her more and more intimately. It was so arousing that it made her ache inside. It was a lie, a manipulative, cruel, lie; that was all it could possibly be with Starscream.

_But just for now, let a lie feel good enough..._

She groaned, her chassis rising as he rolled his hips against her, and, shaking enough that her armour jangled, turned to face him.

He lifted her visor, letting himself forget the nature of their relationship, and stole a kiss from his mad scientist, deep, passionate, and longing, his hands moving around to cup her backside. He wanted her as he had in the past, if only for tonight, if only in the sickest of ways. It was more than that, even if he couldn't admit it; couldn't see it.

She returned the kiss, deep and heated and yet clean, feeling it course through her and whimpering with the rapidly increasing pleasure as their hips bumped gently. Her hands slid up his back and moved to his wings, sliding along the edges gently. If there was one thing that being blinded had done for her, it was that she knew exactly how to use her hands, almost without trying.

His hands tightened to resist digging his fingers in, and the next moan she heard shuddered in her ears as his hips pressed much harder into her midriff. At the rate she was going, he might need to get out of his armour rather soon. It had been so long since he'd been touched as reverently as this, and much longer since it had been done right…

Hotwire cried out abruptly as Starscream pressed against her, her back arching and pushing her against him, "St-Starscream..." she hissed into his audios. She'd had a bunk installed into the lab, but she wasn't sure that she wanted to pause these feelings even for the length of time it would take to get there. She was starting to get seriously oily behind her interface panels and her fingers found the hairline joins in the Seeker's armour, working under it to tease at the cogs and gears it protected.

The sounds he made were ones she hadn't heard in ages, even by the standards of their race, and it drove him to feel under the plates that held her armour in place so he could feel the circuitry and mechanics in her boot, playing his fingers along them as she did those on his shoulders.

Hotwire moaned even louder as Starscream started to unclasp her plating. Her knees almost buckled and she slumped a little against him, loosening his armour further as she fumbled a little. With difficulty, she began to pull him towards an examination table, while her fingers went even deeper into him, moving their investigations towards his crotch plating.

The platinum fighter was more than happy to take a seat on the table, though he regretted losing his grip on the treasure he'd found. But as her hands wandered lower, he wasn't quite ready to complain about his loss just yet, letting his hands move higher and higher slowly, up the sides of her midriff and then her chassis.

Hotwire shivered as he unclasped the extensive plating over her shoulders, and then got to work on that over her chassis. She started to unclip the plating on his. Since she couldn't see exactly where they were, she had to feel her way around, moving over more sensitive places.

If he were to be honest, he'd tell her outright, the feeling of her hands exploring his body as his eyes did hers was nearly as good as the end result, certainly enough to make him writhe on the table as he tried to match her in releasing her armour at a similar rate to which she undid his.

Hotwire started to lean back against the examination table, Starscream on top. Her fingers found the clasp for his crotch plating and then she hesitated. Even now when it was obvious what he wanted, she had the decency to pause and...

"Uh, Starscream... this... I..." she swallowed, embarrassed. But it was clear what she wanted to ask. She was actually _respecting_ him, without being ordered to.

He grinned, and even if she couldn't see it, she could almost feel it through the tone of his voice, warmer than she'd heard... in _far_ longer than she'd care to remember, "If you're comfortable with it, nothing could make me happier right now," he purred as her chest armour fell away.

She nodded, and undid the clips, hearing it drop to the floor. Under that was the interface panel, and she unclasped the armour on her forearms so that she could better reach it, and stroked at it with clever fingers, almost willing it to open as he started on her lower plating, "Kiss me... again..." she whispered, sounding even a little shy as she spoke.

He kissed her just as she asked, even more passionately than before, moaning into her mouth as his hands explored her back, making her shudder beneath his touch.

"Uh… nnngh…" Hotwire whimpered at the feel of him, moving her lips against his as she trembled, her foot rubbing up and down against his long leg. His long fingers touched the complicated gears that moved her rotors; a place just as sensitive for any Rotorcraft as the wings were for a Seeker, and she yelped, letting out a soft cry that was only slightly muffled by the kiss. She grabbed his hand and pushed it down to where they both knew the catches for the heavy plating over her hips to be.

His voice caught for just a moment at what she was asking him to do. It had been too long since he'd known the touch of a femme, and he fumbled just a moment before deftly unlatching the plating that blocked his way, letting the armour fall away as his tongue sought out her own, seeking to intensify the pleasure all the more while his fingers dug into her.

Hotwire couldn't see him, but she still used her hands like an expert. The drones that had been a replacement on HD-10180 were really not much better than self-service, and she'd become very good with her hands. She felt her way around the Seeker, moaning louder into the kisses. Then she gasped as her interface panel slid open smoothly thanks to his attentions, and her body jolted.

As soon as her body was open to him, Starscream pressed the advantage, digging his fingers into her slowly, starting with just one, wanting to build Hotwire's anticipation, as well as her pleasure. He knew how well the patience would pay off for her, as well as speed and force and initiative paid off for many men. At first it was just the tip of his finger, teasing her entrance in small circles before dipping in to the first joint, then back out, over and over again.

She groaned, and her hand moved down to his panel, rubbing at it encouragingly. As he eased a finger into her, she spread her knees with a whimper, letting him in.

As she rubbed the Seeker's panel, she felt his cable rousing, and heard the moan from his lips as he pressed in to the second joint on his finger, in and out as he stirred her slowly with it, starting a gentle circular motion.

"Oh, Starscream..." As his fingers stirred deeper, Hotwire gritted her teeth. She sat up slightly and buried her face into the crook of his neck, "I... want to... _see_... every inch of you," she whispered, one hand on his wings, the other rubbing at his cable.

HIs intake shuddered before a moan escaped the silver jet's mouth, letting his finger slip in the rest of the way and rest there, tracing circles along her innermost walls as his other hand moved to her backside, rubbing the curves he found there, "Hotwire... please..." he said softly, as if she had a choice.

She smiled, and he felt her lips curve against him. Her engine purred a little, and she teased at his wings with a thumb and forefinger while her hand rubbed up and down the main cable, cupping the bundle as she spread her legs wider and raised her hips, "You're not nervous, are you?" she whispered, "The great and powerful Commander Starscream, nervous?"

He smirked at that as a second finger pressed at her port, spreading her femmehood around them even more as he began to work both holes in a slow steady pace. "Not nervous, eager…" There was just a twinge of doubt in his voice that he didn't even know was there.

Hotwire's frame shook again slightly, and she began to kiss him, not on the lips but with soft licks against the pliable metal that lay under the armour as she heated up further. Her fingers moved down, playing with his exhaust gently. That same exhaust had been ravaged by Megatron just days ago.

He flinched a little, though he knew it was her and not the ruthless gladiator that in his personal opinion seemed to function solely to torment him. His cable grew hard rather quickly against _her_ hand as he started to work his fingers in and out of her faster.

She was leaking oily lubricants at his touch, over his fingers and the table they were draped over. Huffing gently, she kissed his cheek and eased his fingers out of her, "I... nnngh... I don't care if you're a liar..." she managed, holding his cable next to her entrance port, "Just... just make a lie feel _good_..."

He smiled and pushed her onto her back, nodding before he stole a deep, passionate kiss, making her mouth his own as he slowly pressed into her, letting his cable stretch her in the most teasing way. He wanted to make sure she couldn't have one single complaint about the pleasure they were about to share.

Hotwire kissed him back fiercely, endeavouring to claim his mouth as deeply as he was hers. His entry was smooth and slick thanks to how wet he had made her, not a single twinge of pain, just a slight stretching. She wrapped her arms around his back, pushing her fingers up into important gears and cogs as she brought up her hips to meet his.

He laughed and stroked her side, a grin on his lips even as he kissed her, shuddering as he began a gentle in and out.

She hissed at the feel of it, one foot rubbing against his leg again as he started to fill her up. She had all but forgotten this... how well he seemed to fit her body. Despite their different shapes - or perhaps because of them - they really did match well. She was already wet, and now she was shaking with how aroused she was, "Oh, that's... that's so..." she jolted between words.

He smirked a bit as she broke the kiss, bracing himself with both hands as he pulled back again, "I guess you're ready for more then?" It wasn't really a question, because as soon as those words left his mouth, he began to fuck her much harder and faster than before, giving her a proper workout.

She cried out as he started to slam her against the table, and her fingers dug into sensitive metal, groping enough to leave dents. It was stupid, it was crazy, it was irrational... but it felt so good for all that as she pressed up, willing him to drive deeper inside of her.

He felt that desire, and gave her it as best he could, and she could feel every gear, every piston in his back under his skin work with each of his thrust, the table beneath them rocking and creaking as he dug his talons in.

She couldn't see it but she could feel it and hear it, and for her, that was the important thing. They weren't kissing now, and her cries were unrestrained, "I... oh! I had... Nnnngh! Almost forgotten..." she huffed, her engine revving as he touched her. Triple Changers had the same sensitive spots as a regular Cybertronian did for one alt, and when he stroked her wheel rims, they sent the same shudder of pleasure through her as when he rubbed at her rotors.

He gave her a knowing smirk, one of masculinity, a trait he shared with humans, at least when he was with her, and lust, dominance shading it as he continued to fuck her, harder and deeper, not letting up for even a moment. Again and again he bottomed out, digging his fingers more firmly into the table as he moaned her name.

Deep scratches were left in the table, and Hotwire drove her hips up, spreading her legs wider. She had been aroused when he'd started, and now... "Starscream..." she felt her entire body jolt, "Real soon... I'm gonna..."

He nodded to her in response, as if to say he as well was nearing his limit. It had been so long since he'd known such an embrace, and his body was relishing it, so much so he couldn't find the control he once had, though that didn't stop him from putting his all into her, it only made him do it all the more.

She braced her feet against the table, gritted her teeth, and held on to him tightly, squeezing his hips while at the same time allowing him to move as he pleased, "I'm gonna... I'm gonna..." she huffed out, and then sat up sharply with a cry, his cable going all the way into her as she pressed her face to his chassis. She came, lubricants spilling and the soft, sensitive metal inside tensing around him, "Oh... oh frag..."

Between the tensing and the pleasurable currents her body produced, he came hard, returning the passionate static as he poured his essence into her, a mix of lubricants and Energon that drove her pleasure to the next level, as he called her name, dragging his fingers down her sides. "H-Hotwire..! You are… s-so fragging good..!" He praised her as he ground and pounded into her, his whole body tense and trembling from the overload.

Whimpering slightly, Hotwire kept a hold of Starscream. Unable to see, the static overload that had filled her with such pleasure was also a shock to her systems, almost scary in its intensity. What was even more frightening was that it was Starscream whom she had done this with, and she started to tremble despite herself, curling up carefully, yet getting closer to him.

He rolled onto his side, grinding eagerly into her pussy as he grinned, loving how she felt beneath his hips, laughing softly, happily, as he held onto her, kissing her forehead as his hips bucked a bit and his fingers bit into the curve of her aft. He'd forgotten how amazing they were together. It was like a drug; if he wasn't careful, he'd be hooked once again.

For now, she held on to him, ventilating heavily and rubbing at his sides with the tips of her fingers, rolling her hips against him slowly as he continued to press into her, now all but helpless to him as her soft inner metals continued to tremble around him and the lubricants dripped onto the table beneath them, the colour like oil on water.

He was in bliss, wishing he could go back, knowing what he knew now, the afterglow making him regret so much more what he had done to her, what he had done to himself, on that day, denying himself both pleasure and love. But here they were, and now he had different motives.

Hotwire continued to collect herself. Now she knew what Starscream looked like again, all over. Still, to be interfacing with him again, as if nothing bad had passed between them, as if they hadn't been apart for over four million years, was unnerving. It had been intense, and so, so pleasurable... but at the same time, she wasn't sure that it hadn't been a mistake. Her silence and deep ventilation was telling.

He held her, a satisfied smirk on his lips that she couldn't see, hands groping at her as he shuddered, stretching as his cable slid out of her, fluids pouring out of her and onto the table.

Hotwire only nodded shakily, her engine juddering as she held on to him. Even now she was remembering that she was a prisoner here. Starscream was her jailor. The logic of the thought was intensely sobering, "Starscream?" she asked, her voice quiet and nervous, "Are you... you're not going to..." she bit her lip, afraid to ask.

He quirked his brow, sitting up slowly and looking down to her as he stroked her shoulder and back. "What is it?" he asked the Triple Changer, wondering what she had to ask him.

"Just that..." Hotwire looked away. She might as well say it; Starscream was either going to do it, or he wasn't. Her pointing out the blindly obvious wasn't going to change anything, "It's just that you pretty much own me," she admitted, "And... not in the good sense..."

He kissed her cheek, laughing softly. "That would make me feel much better if we weren't BOTH owned by the same pile of scrap..." his tone was filled with bitter humour.

Hotwire just sighed. She would have much liked to point out how even if they were both owned, at least for Starscream it wasn't official. At least his door wasn't locked, at least he could walk out. She let it drop. The Seeker was unlikely to understand any time soon. He was far too wrapped up in himself.

* * *

"Typical."

On the bridge, Megatron watched the two mechs in their embrace, distaste on his features.

"Only _Starscream_ would lower himself to mating with an imprisoned, crippled Triple-Changer."

Who would have thought his Commander would frag a cripple, even to gain her allegiance? And who would have thought that same cripple could successfully turn him into a moaning, shivering wreck? It only confirmed what he already knew; that Starscream was a glorified whore. He'd have to take advantage of that, sometime. But right now there was a war to fight...

* * *

NOTE: Yeah, Starscream's using Hotwire for feel-good sex. It's Starscream. He won't exactly improve in a hurry.


End file.
